AAPA

Billeigh Waaha

As a mature aged student, I came to La Trobe University with the intention of earning a certification, which would allow employment within the field of native title, or at least somewhere within the Aboriginal sector. Discovering the Aurora Project, I felt that experiences gained during such an internship would be invaluable; I aimed to be accepted. The Aurora Native Title Internship Program places successful applicants with Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and other organisations throughout Australia , working in land rights, policy development and human rights, all with an Indigenous focus.. Aurora is rigorous when ensuring that applicants are committed to social justice and Indigenous affairs and developing greater understanding of Australian issues. At the time, I thought the application process was a little excessive but on completing my five week internship in sunny Darwin, I understand why.

Placed with the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) in Darwin, the statutory authority upholds the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act (1989) and works within the Territory, registering and protecting Aboriginal sacred sites. I was one of four Aurora interns placed with AAPA, (two legal and two anthropology) entrusted with the task of each delivering a report that would contribute to the Seabed Mining Review. In March 2012, the NT government placed a three year moratorium on exploration and mining in NT waters and AAPA and the EPA were tasked with reviewing the impact of such activities. The other interns and I were each responsible for delivering a report based on important aspects surrounding seabed mining. As an anthropology intern, I was required to deliver findings and recommendations in relation to the historical context of Indigenous management of sacred sites in the sea. My research allowed me to collate information about past and current activities, policies and research into Indigenous management of sacred sites, including sea closures, native title claims and government initiatives supporting Indigenous management of the seas.

Working the usual NT government hours from 8am-4:21pm, five days a week over five weeks, I developed a sixty page report including a timeline of significant events surrounding customary marine tenure and an appendices elaborating concerns and a historical overview of recorded Indigenous management of the seas. Knowing very little about the Northern Territory before I arrived, the internship gave me the opportunity to work with a great Aboriginal resource library in Australia, developing a deep understanding of concerns surrounding the development of NT coastal waters. Immersed in various records, books, ethnographies and other primary research material I developed an affinity with my work; entrusted with such an important task, I would not take this opportunity for granted. Hence the 60 page report.

Working along side three other Aurora interns at AAPA allowed for company at lunch and a sounding board for when issues, whether personal or work related, arose. I made friends with my colleagues and became acquainted with many more Aurora interns placed in Darwin, all experiencing profoundly inspirational moments throughout the duration of their stay.

The experience is as I expected, invaluable. Students and graduates who wish to develop their understanding of what anthropologists currently do in Australia, should apply to the Aurora Internship Program. Applications for the summer 2012/13 round close on 31 August on-line via the website at wwew.auroraproject.com.au.
 

Eleanor Smith

During the past six weeks I have been in Darwin undertaking an internship through a placement program named The Aurora Project, which places anthropology, law and some social sciences students and graduates in internships with Native Title Representative Bodies. In my last semester of my Bachelor of Arts, an Anthropology and English major, I heard about the Aurora Project placement program in a lecture, and thought I would give it a go. Wanting to work in connection with local Indigenous affairs, I was keen to give my studies and interest professional context through an internship. The Aurora Project aims to increase awareness of jobs in Indigenous affairs, with a focus on Native Title, and also to provide help to under-resourced Indigenous organizations. It provides interns with experience, and the organizations with assistance, in a reciprocal exchange.

After turning up in Darwin with little idea of what to expect, I was pretty chuffed with what I got. The internship was at an organization called the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA), and consisted of office based research into sacred Aboriginal sea sites. AAPA is a statutory body established to protect all sacred sites under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act and as such, it, among other things, registers sacred sites on land and sea, allowing the protection of these sites and the prosecution of any individuals or organizations which desecrate them. My task at AAPA, however, was to gather base information for a three-year review to be provided to the NT government on the potential cultural and social impacts of seabed mining. Having just handed in my last essay, and never having done professional work in my ‘field’ before, my tummy did a little flip as I baulked at the realness of the task.

There were four of us Aurora interns working on different aspects of the project, anthropological and legal, and we banded together to share our leads and work. I read and researched zealously. The people at AAPA were welcoming and friendly, and I felt like the work I was doing was tangibly useful. It was fascinating work, looking into the sacred sites and dreaming tracks which crisscross saltwater country, forming the nexus of a complex system of belief which permeates all aspects of life for saltwater peoples. I was drawing together both information from AAPA’s database and external documents into one collated report outlining current written information on the significance of sea sites.

Added to that, Darwin was an experience in itself, full of hazards and friendly people. Going to the beach – you might encounter a crocodile, yes, but more likely you’ll have a chat to someone about their dog, and they’ll turn out to be your nextdoor neighbour, and know your childhood friend from ‘down South’. People might put fart bombs under your chair at the pub, but the sun will be going down in a slow and lingering explosion of colours and you’ll have a good old belly laugh about it, trying not to breathe through your nose. And on Territory Day, the only day of the year when fireworks are legal, the reigning chaos of crackers only spurs on everyone’s enthusiasm. I went swing dancing, ate laksa at the markets, slept in a swag under the stars, and swam in waterholes three days walking distance from the nearest town, surrounded by zinging bush.

I met other Aurora interns in Darwin, some legal, some social sciences, working on projects as diverse as trauma healing. Being done with university, I have got to turn my nose to seeking a job that I care about and believe in, and the placement has given me a great grounding for that. It has provided a real context and knowledge of the type of work one can do as an anthropologist.

Applications are now open for the Summer 2012/13 round of internships, closing on 31st August. You can apply through their website: www.auroraproject.com.au.
 

AMSANT

Win Yee Tan

If I were questioned about interns and their daily responsibilities prior to starting my Aurora internship at the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) this past summer, I would have probably conjured up mental images of a sleep-deprived coffee making, photocopying zombie. Not knowing a lot about AMSANT or their projects, I felt quite apprehensive the day before my internship started. A thousand questions crossed my mind during my flight from Melbourne to Darwin- would I be able to meet the expectations of my supervisors? Was I to spend the next few weeks chained to a desk filled with unending piles of paperwork? More importantly, knowing my uncoordinated and technologically challenged self, what if I don't know how to work the photocopy machine?

It turns out that I had nothing to worry about. Upon entering the reception on my first day, I was warmly welcomed into the AMSANT family, and immediately forgot any anxiety that I previously harboured. Also, luckily for me, I never had to photocopy a single document throughout my internship.

In light of the current Government's plan to enforce mandatory rehabilitation on alcoholics in the Northern Territory, I spent the majority of my time at AMSANT conducting research on mandatory rehabilitation, and co-writing a report on my findings. Although this would have ordinarily seemed like an intimidating task, my supervisors' easy-going and encouraging nature managed to put me at ease from start to end. During my research, I began to glean the severity of mandatory rehabilitation, and the ethical concerns regarding this topic. Coming from an anthropology background, I was interested in the social effects of mandatory rehabilitation. I wanted to know how such measures would affect the children and family members of alcoholics, and whether or not this symptomatic style of treatment would be appropriate with regards to the holistic nature of Indigenous health. Although these questions were never fully answered, they stayed at the back of my mind throughout my journey in report writing. My research emphasised to me the challenges in Indigenous affairs, and reminded me that the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is one that requires further attention, and thoughtful consideration.

Besides research, I also had the opportunity to visit the Council of Aboriginal Alcohol Prevention Services (CAAPS). I learnt a lot from this trip, and was especially interested in the cultural appropriateness of the program. For example, in order to facilitate their stay, rehabilitation clients are separated into language groups. Clients are also encouraged to bring their family along for the duration of treatment, as CAAPS aims to provide intergenerational healing, and promote family involvement in the rehabilitation process. The holistic approach from CAAPS is effective and well-received, which made me wonder whether mandatory rehabilitation is truly an appropriate method of treatment for Indigenous Australians.

My internship at AMSANT turned out to be one of the best and most valuable experiences I have ever undertaken. My six weeks in Darwin expanded my knowledge, challenged my boundaries, and continuously pushed me to critically question the legitimacy of medico-legal ethics. I feel that I have a better understanding of Indigenous affairs, and the challenges faced by those who work in the sector. I have a deeper respect for those who advocate and work for Indigenous rights, as I can now better comprehend their determination and perseverance.

If you are considering your options for the upcoming winter holidays, and have strong interests in Indigenous affairs, I highly recommend you visit the Aurora website, and fill in an application form for the winter internship round. Information is available at: http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram. Applications close on 28th March.
 

APY

Ben Brant

As an undergraduate student studying a BA (Anthropology), I am just entering the final semester of my third year. As a student I have often pondered the idea about what it would be like to finally leave the institutionalized setting of a university, and enter the work arena: particularly within the field of anthropology. On hearing about the Aurora Project Native Title Internship Program through university peers who themselves were past interns –with some amazing experiences to share-, I was both refreshed and excited with the notion that I could gain some supervised work experience in the field of study I am currently engaged in. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to apply for an internship through the Aurora Project.

I feel fortunate and indeed privileged to have been accepted to undertake my anthropology internship with Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY). APY traces its incorporated beginnings to the passing of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 by the South Australian state government. The passing of this Act gave Anangu peoples title to more than 103,000 square kilometres of arid land in the far northwest of South Australia. I was based in the small –purpose built- community of Umuwa. Umuwa is the administrative centre for APY Lands, and as such contains facilities for addressing automotive and housing issues, economic development, land management concerns, and also employs staff to liaise with mining companies over potential mineral exploration endeavours. It is in the area of mineral exploration –in fact any development which can have potential impacts on Anangu cultural heritage- that covers much of the workload for anthropologists who are employed by APY. Anthropologists play an important role for APY by ensuring that Traditional Owners (TOs) are given every possible opportunity to have an informed consultation and final consent for any development which will affect APY Lands. Anthropological skills such as researching genealogies are important in the process of identifying which TOs have the authority and hence right to speak for “country”.

As an intern my initial and prime responsibility was to help with sorting out the filing systems, matching both electronic and physical files. This is a continuing and often tiring process, but the rewards will be that there will be more efficiency when trying to retrieve and store files. Ultimately this will help with improving the service to TOs. As a person who came to the internship with no real administrative experience I found this set task to be challenging at times. It was none-the-less rewarding in the sense that I was –through reading some of the files- able to gauge and gain some notion of what anthropological –particularly cultural heritage management-work out here involves. If time permitted, there were opportunities to accompany my supervising anthropologist out into the field to conduct minor clearance work, or attend meeting in order to construct genealogies. These opportunities were very enlightening as they allowed me to glimpse into some of the social complexities, and also constraints that can be experienced in this type of field.

We as interns also had the opportunity to lend a hand to other departments during our internship. Such activities included volunteering to help out with the Warru (Black-footed Rock Wallaby) Recovery Program. Such activities involved going out on country in areas not usually open to the public. As part of our involvement, we interns were even able to go up in a light helicopter to assist with some of the tasks which the program required in order to be successful. Such activities, especially when up in the air, provided spectacular images of the APY Lands, which will forever be ingrained in my memory.

With weekends free, there were many opportunities to explore some of the surrounding area of APY Lands. We were able to visit Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We also were able to camp out by water-holes in some of the most beautiful country imaginable. There is nothing like being able to fall asleep by a campfire, while gazing up at a never ending ocean of glittering stars. Being able to visit the community art centres out on APY Lands was another definite highlight of the experience. I was often captivated by the complexity of the paintings and other craft pieces on display. Other recreational experiences included a little hiking, and accompanying some of the Anangu women out on country to collect tjala (honey ants) as well as to harvest mingkulpa (a type of wild tobacco).

My internship was an unforgettable experience in so many ways and has left an indelible mark in my mind of the APY Lands and the Anangu peoples who call it their home. It has given me insights into many concepts I have learned during the process of my undergraduate education and allowed me to apply these concepts to practical –real life- settings. I have furthermore been blessed with an opportunity to acquaint myself with professional anthropologists at APY and to form professional networks with them. Lastly my internship experience through the Aurora Project has both refreshed and reinstalled my desire to continue my studies to a post-graduate level and to pursue a career in anthropology both within Australia and beyond. I would definitely recommend the Aurora Project Native Title Internship Program to any current university students or post-graduates who are entertaining the idea of working in the dynamic areas of Indigenous issues. Please consider applying for the 2012 winter round. Applications can be submitted online from 5 March through 30 March 2012 via the website http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram
 

CYLC

Jacqui Hilton

My altered perspective on Native Title

For 6 weeks across February and March 2010 I had the pleasure of undertaking a native title anthropology internship with the Cape York Land Council (CYLC) through the Aurora Internship Program. This was an invaluable experience for me which I enjoyed immensely and learnt a lot.
However, if I can be completely honest, I think it is important to note that I didn’t sign up for the internship with the Aurora program because I really wanted to work in native title. In fact I signed up to the Aurora program despite the fact that I really didn’t want to work in native title. I applied for the Aurora program because it seemed to be the right thing to do – to get experience, and ultimately to get a job. It seemed like the sensible area to start work in – native title is a field, I feel, where there will always be plenty of work for anthropologist in Australia.

I begin with this as it is clear that Native Title Representative Bodies struggle with recruiting both lawyers and researchers to the industry. From my exposure to native title concepts at university it seemed very complicated and confusing and didn’t really spark my interest. However, in reality I found that while native title is more complex and confusing than I ever could have imagined, it is also challenging, intellectually stimulating and an incredibly interesting field of work.

Suffice it to say, that my experience at Cape York Land Council completely changed my perspective on native title. In fact, against all odds I have now found myself in a permanent job with another Native Title Representative Body and I am enjoying it immensely. Further, I feel that the internship has provided me with a really valuable experience to take to my current position. As I was recently told in my current position: ‘there is no shallow end in native title, you always get thrown straight in the deep end’. It was great to get some practise at swimming for six weeks before the real work began!

One of the most valuable things about the internship was the low pressure situation that I found myself in - the opportunity to learn at my own pace and to take from the experience what it was I wanted to learn. In the setting of an unpaid internship, there was a freedom to take the extra time to understand something I found difficult to comprehend, to ask lots of questions without feeling like I should have already known the answer, to listen in on meetings about issues arising from particular claims without having the pressure to contribute something valuable. Reading through sections of connection reports for various claims gave me a deeper insight into the complexities of proving native title and huge weight of the onus of proof that rests on the claimants and all those involved the native title process. Putting what I had learnt about native title at university into a ‘real world’ context made the knowledge I had stored away come alive.

I also had the fantastic opportunity for field work. This involved attending a number of native title meetings in Cape York. This, of course, was the most valuable experience of the internship. While my role was simply to take notes, cut fruit and make the odd cup of tea or coffee for the claimants, it was great to see the places and meet the faces that I had been reading about in the office and to hear the issues they raised and the challenges they were facing as well as the aspirations they have for their land and their futures. Seeing the human face to native title made me feel like this is worthwhile and rewarding field of work, despite the complexities and difficulties faced.

For all of the above reasons I would like to encourage all anthropology students to consider and internship with the Aurora Program, as well as lecturers to encourage students to apply and representative bodies to be even more eager to take on interns through Aurora. The support and encouragement I received both from the Aurora team and CYLC has been invaluable and created a great platform to build a career upon.

For more information on the Aurora Project visit their website: http://www.auroraproject.com.au

CLCAC

Amiee Kepa

As a student of both Anthropology and Law, the Native Title system had always
interested me in its apparent application and interaction of these seemingly distinct
disciplines. Unfortunately, my actual knowledge of Native Title extended to nothing
more than a vague appreciation of this quality, stemming from abstract notions of
‘connection’, ‘justice’ and ‘entitlement’, terms I no doubt appropriated with my own
slightly glorified meaning. From this very limited foundation, I was placed with the
Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation in Cairns, a Native Title
Representative Body for the western region of Queensland extending from the southern
parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria right through to the South Australian border.

Over a period just short of seven weeks, I was thrust into an environment living,
breathing and at every moment experiencing the many faces of Native Title. I discovered
quickly that my idealised notions of this system had completely underestimated the
complexity of the law, of the anthropology, and of the difficulties in both representing
and being represented. I also learnt that around this ‘Native Title’ was an intricate system
of intertwining legislation, negotiation and compromise that attempted to command the
many interests over the land in the hope that they be appropriately managed and
maintained.

This diversity was reflected in the wide-ranging nature of the tasks that I, as an intern,
was asked to undertake. These included drafting articles in plain English on subsidiary
issues for Native Title claimants, such as the implications of tax on individuals receiving
payment under future act agreements, and the requirements for registering as a cultural
heritage representative body. Other tasks involved sorting through and compiling
anthropological research, transcribing interviews, sourcing maps, researching judicial
decisions, case histories and genealogies to photocopying and binding. All of these
activities exposed me to the sheer volume of materials that are drawn on from the input of
various actors including lawyers, anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, geographers
and research assistants to name a few. No doubt this wealth of material is one indicator
of the high evidentiary burdens that are placed on applicants of Native Title.
Furthermore, the span of dates on the reports pays homage to the all too often lengthy
time frames involved in receiving a determination.

Whilst the tasks I completed in the office no doubt provided the foundations of my
theoretical understanding of Native Title, it was my experience in the field on two
different occasions that consolidated this knowledge by revealing the reality of Native
Title for those claimants on the end of it. On both occasions I was allowed the privilege
of meeting with traditional owners whilst they generously shared their stories and
knowledge with me. I listened to their musings of the past, and concerns for the future,
and with that a jolt of reality felt a slight shame at the purely academic way to which I
had approached the research materials. Admittedly, I had found it difficult to digest the
foreign names and places referred to in the preparatory reading undertaken prior to the
trip. Humbled by the intimate, deep knowledge that these traditional owners had of both
their land and family it was hard not to sympathise with their obvious frustrations over a
system that, in such remote places felt so removed, both ideologically and theoretically.

Throughout these interactions I observed how both lawyers and anthropologist worked
collaboratively by moulding anthropological findings into a presentable legal framework.
I also watched how both lawyers and anthropologist communicated clearly and openly
with the native title groups, dramatically helped by their intimate knowledge and
familiarity with the claim group as individuals, as a collective, and through a close survey
of the research materials. I witnessed how they reasoned with frustrated claimants,
sceptical of the system, unsure of what role we, as representatives of the land council,
would play. Sadly I also witnessed disruptions and conflict both within and between
claim groups that would often manifest into a reluctance to share knowledge of country
out of fear of stories being stolen.

Perhaps most importantly, these trips to country allowed me to conceive the legal
machinery of Native Title as more than simply a series of processes with varying
requirements, evidentiary burdens and consequences along the way. Rather these trips
allowed me to appreciate the detailed ways in which the deep knowledge connecting
traditional owners and their communities to country needs to be presented to be amenable
to the courts whilst doing justice to the traditional owners. In this capacity, although
perhaps on a very basic level, I was truly able to witness the relationship between
anthropology and law. They both work interactively at translating and appropriating
judicial systems of law with traditional systems of laws and vice versa.

However my internship was in no way limited to scrutinizing the Native Title system.
Throughout the program I was able to explore the townships, visit sites, Art galleries and
cultural centres in rural Western Queensland and soak in the gorgeous tropical
atmosphere of Cairns. I became friends with the wonderful people working at
Carpentaria who shared their experiences as professionals in this often-challenging field.
I was provided the chance to develop practical skills, in the field of anthropology and
law. I was granted the vary rare opportunity to learn, from traditional owners, sacred and
profound knowledge of country, be openly accepted into their homes and be shown parts
of their lives. The experience was constantly challenging, often enlightening and no
doubt educational. And I loved every minute of it.

For more information on the Aurora Project Native Title Internships please visit
www.auroraproject.com.au or contact Aimee Kepa at aimee.kepa@student.adelaide.edu.au.

Central Desert

Heather Lynes

An Introduction to Native Title That Surpassed All Expectations

If you had asked me in early September what I would be doing for the last quarter of 2010, I would probably have replied, “frequenting Sydney’s beaches.” After all, I had just returned from a six-year trip to Edinburgh during which I spent less than a week - total - lying on the beach. However, that was not to be. Instead, I went to Perth and took part in the Summer 2010/11 Aurora Native Title Internship Program.

The Aurora Native Title Internship Program aims to place anthropology, law and other social science students into organisations that deal with some aspect of native title, policy, social justice and Indigenous affairs. Placements are arranged in order for these organisations to receive much needed support, while also building the future capacity of said organisations by introducing potential employees to the field. I had recently submitted my anthropological PhD thesis for final examination when I discovered the program and thought it would provide an ideal way to get a proper introduction to the practicalities of native title. I was not to be disappointed!
For six weeks, I immersed myself in an array of documents relating to various native title claims throughout the Western Desert in an effort to pull out useful bits of information to be included in Central Desert Native Title Services’ (Central Desert) newly up-and-running cultural geography database. To some, that might sound like a fancy way of describing data entry; however, in truth, while some portion of the work was certainly mundane, it provided me with a great opportunity to familiarise myself with the types of documents that are produced for the purposes of claiming native title, while also allowing me the time to learn a multitude of names and places associated with each individual claim. It did not take long for me to feel like I was actually beginning to understand how important cultural information might be collected and collated to form a legal case for native title and thus, what the role of anthropologists tend to be in the native title system.

I also had the luxury of being placed in a fairly central location in Central Desert’s office, which meant I was essentially privy to a great deal of what occurred in the office on a daily basis. Being an anthropologist, I used this positioning to gather even more information on the roles of other folks in the office, as well as to get myself involved in anything interesting that might have been taking place. Thus, I got to meet some of the Traditional Owners who visited the office from time to time to discuss some aspect of their claim and observe how these Traditional Owners interacted with the staff at Central Desert. To my delight, the interaction – while remaining professional – had an ease and friendliness to it which suggested that the relationships being built were good and lasting ones.

The highlight of my internship was the four-day fieldtrip to Wiluna which I was generously invited to join. The purpose of the trip was to hold a few meetings – one for men, one for women and one for everybody –in which some very important decisions needed to be made. As the intern, I helped out wherever possible, which mainly meant preparing meals and video-taping the meetings. However, the fieldtrip provided a brilliant opportunity to meet the claimants in their own communities and see a little bit of the incredible landscape I had been reading so much about during the process of data entry back at the office in Perth. Moreover, due to the nature of the meetings and who was required to attend, I was able to meet some of the consultant ‘expert’ anthropologists who work with Central Desert and thus gain an even more in-depth understanding of what anthropological work in the native title system can look like.
Upon returning from the fieldtrip - with one week of my internship left - to my absolute excitement, I was offered a full-time position with Central Desert. Although I had not originally envisioned relocating myself and my family to Perth (we had only just resettled in Sydney after I completed the PhD in Edinburgh), the experiences I had while undertaking the internship convinced me that it would be the right decision to take the job. As I write this, I am preparing to move and take up the position, which I am sure will lead to many new and exciting experiences. One thing I know for sure, however, is that being part of Central Desert – and the native title field, more generally – will help me to fulfil my own personal goals of using my research training to make a very real and practical difference in the world.

Applications for the winter 2011 round of Aurora Native Title Internships open in March. To find out more or apply, visit: www.auroraproject.com.au

CLC

Deborah Hoger

A Look into Native Title Anthropologists

After completing a Bachelor of Arts and Science mid 2010 and beginning an Honours degree in Anthropology later in the year, I realised that I was still at somewhat of a loss as to the practical career pathways available to budding anthropologists. I had studied anthropology for several years and loved its theoretical aspects, yet nearing the end of my studies; I felt I needed a way to experience a taste of just what an anthropologist does in the work-field. An Aurora anthropology internship provided me with the perfect way to find out just this.

In February 2011, I began my six week internship with the Central Land Council (CLC), based in the heart of Australia in Alice Springs. You can imagine my excitement at being placed in a location such as Alice Springs! It was to be six weeks of invaluable work experience. My supervisor provided me with a diverse range of activities to introduce me to the world of native title and the role of the anthropologist within it.

I spent some of my time inputting site information into the sites database, which provided me with a unique opportunity to read about some of the local Jukurrpa (dreaming tracks). I was lucky enough to accompany some anthropologists out on a field trip to several remote Aboriginal communities, including Papunya, Mt. Liebig and Yuendumu, and here I witnessed consultations with traditional owners and other community members. These trips put some of the dreamings that I had read about into context, with the anthropologists pointing aspects of them out to me in the landscape as we drove out to the communities. This was definitely a highlight of the trip; it was really quite amazing to see how the landscape is quite literally immersed in Aboriginal sites and dreamings. Coming from a suburban area on the eastern coast of Australia it is sometimes easy to forget this.

While these field trips were somewhat of an added bonus, I also thoroughly enjoyed the day to day work I undertook in the office. I was asked early on by my supervisor to put together a literature review on the joint management of national parks; this proved to be an extremely relevant task to me personally, as I was in the middle of completing my honours thesis, which was based on this very issue.

Towards the conclusion of my internship, I was given the opportunity to assist in some anthropological research for an upcoming mining meeting in the South Tanami region. Information needed to be gathered relating to which Aboriginal groups belonged to the particular areas that were relevant to the meeting. This was quite an interesting task, involving reading through a range of anthropological files, picking out relevant bits of information and putting them together to create a rough map which associated particular groups with particular areas. From this map we then put together a list of which people should be attending this meeting. From my perspective, this was an excellent task for me to assist in, as it emphasised to me the complexities of the sorts of responsibilities that anthropologists working in a land council must fulfil.

My experience as an intern with the Central Land Council was truly an invaluable opportunity to observe and take part in, the day to day activities of an anthropologist working in a place like Alice Springs. This internship allowed me to place my university studies of anthropology into a real and pragmatic context, and thus gain an in-depth understanding of how anthropology has a significant influence on the lives of many Indigenous people, particularly those living in remote areas such as Alice Springs. As an Indigenous person myself, I found the whole experience particularly rewarding, and I look forward to pursuing a career in Indigenous affairs.

I would recommend this internship to any student or graduate wishing to pursue a career as an anthropologist. There are quite simply very limited opportunities to experience firsthand the day to day duties of an anthropologist working in a native title body and The Aurora Project opened up that door for me. The internship program offers 5 to 6 week unpaid internship at all 15 NTRBs around Australia as well as at over 50 other Indigenous organisations working in land rights, policy development, human rights and social justice. Applications for the Winter 2011 round of Aurora Native Title Internships are open through 1 April on-line via the Aurora website at www.auroraproject.com.au
 

Louise Nisbet

I embarked upon my internship via the Aurora Native Title Internship Program with the Central Land Council (CLC) in Alice Springs in the middle of the final year of my Arts degree, enjoying majoring in anthropology, but not entirely sure what to do with it once done and dusted. Upon hearing about the program which offers placements at NTRBs across Australia, as well as at other organisations working in Indigenous Affairs, policy and social justice, I realised how opportune this experience could be- and all slotted neatly into my mid-year break to boot! I had already done a little bit of native title work for areas inland from Sydney, and wanted to extend my insight into working in an area with Indigenous issues as its core. I definitely did extend this insight, and then some.

Some of the far-flung locations in remote areas offered to Aurora intrigued me, so naturally I was thrilled to find out that I’d be flown to Alice Springs- an area to which I’d never been before- to work for the anthropology section of the CLC. One look at the new, spacious office, filled with nearly 200 employees, and I was taken aback at just how modern and impressive the CLC was as an organisation. Here I was picturing a dusty little office with a flickering computer screen!

Everybody I worked with was helpful and interesting, and I was able to get the gist of what an anthropologist does by the end of my 5-week internship simply by watching and listening. Overall, working at the CLC was rewarding. Yes, I was at a desk for most of the day, going through files and researching. However, the amount of times the anthropologists would come in and out of the office from remote communities after days of travelling, negotiating, documenting, and camping, returning exhausted but happy and covered in dust, gave me hope that there certainly is a whole lot more to this job that being a desk jockey. Besides, being research assistant for an anthropologist was genuinely interesting. Every day I would come across fascinating traditions, Dreamings, historical events and characters, and ways of thinking that intrigued me, and made going through files well worth it. I managed to get my head around some of the more complex concepts in Aboriginal societies, although some I think will need years of growing accustom to!

In my third week I had the privilege of going to Yuendumu with one of the senior anthropologists, to assist at a community meeting. Yuendumu, a good 300+km from Alice Springs, is the locus of ethnographic research for one of my lecturers at uni, and often referred to in class, so naturally I was really excited to see this community in real life. On the drive important Dreaming sites and their stories were pointed out to me, which really made my work back at the office seem a whole lot more meaningful. Rather than just names on a page, these were very real places with strong emotional attachments accompanying them. In this respect the trip gave me a renewed zest for my work back at the office. At the meeting I helped with setting up, giving everybody there lunch, and ensuring that women who entered late could sit amongst the other women without having to make eye contact with the men. This latter task reminded me that a lot of social rules governing Aboriginal people are still very much real and applicable today. During the meeting I got an insight into the legal side of the CLC. I definitely think I prefer my spot in the anthropology section!

All in all, my 5 weeks at the CLC zoomed by with outrageous speed, and just when I was starting to really sink my teeth into my workload! I’d recommend an internship with the CLC (and I’m sure at any NTRB offered by Aurora) to anybody who is curious as to what an anthropologist does out in the world beyond uni, something very few have been able to answer me until now. My interest in Aboriginal culture has only deepened from this experience, and working in an organisation like the CLC made it simultaneously fascinating and challenging, possibly the best working situation I could think of. Applications for Aurora’s summer 2011/2012 internship period have just closed but will be open in February 2012 for the winter 2012 round.

To find out more, go to Aurora’s website at www.auroraproject.com.au
 

CSSU

Hannah Gould

For myself, and perhaps most Arts students, internships were something that I only experienced when observing the desperate attempts of commerce students to secure the perfect placement and thus their perfect career path. And as per the stereotype, while genuinely passionate about the insights that my Bachelor of Arts majors in Anthropology and Linguistics award me, their professional application has often caused concern. Yet whilst I was eager to apply my anthropological understandings to an internship position, relevant and rewarding opportunities for undergraduates appeared sparse.

The Aurora Project offers one such outstanding opportunity. The Aurora Native Title Internship Program aims to place students and graduates of anthropology, social sciences (archaeology, cultural heritage, environmental management, history, human geography and sociology) and law within Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and other organisations working within Indigenous policy development, welfare and human rights throughout Australia. The internships emphasise providing support for the highly under-staffed and over-worked NTRBs and other Indigenous organisations. They also offer a tangible opportunity for future employment within the native title, social justice and Indigenous affairs area more generally.

After being selected as an eligible candidate by Aurora, I was fortunate to be placed with the CSSU Safe House in Wadeye, a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, one hour’s drive from Darwin, but only accessible by light air craft or barge during the wet season when I visited. Wadeye is most often cast in an incredibly negative light by those journalists that venture there, and certainly, the endemic diseases, poverty and violence within the town shocked me. Yet so too was I moved by the many layers of myth, religion, languages, ceremonial groups and kinship alliances that mediate day-to-day interaction. More than anything else, my internship taught me that no matter the depth of one’s academic insights, they cannot surpass first-hand ‘on-the-ground’ experience of living in a community.

For the length of my six week internship, I was supported and mentored by the Safe House manager, who introduced me to the challenging role of running a women and children’s refuge in Wadeye. My internship primarily focused on independently designing, conducting and reporting on a consultation process with key stakeholders and community organisations of Wadeye regarding the functioning of the Safe House within its first year of operation. This task was both incredibly rewarding and challenging, as a range of often contradictory views about the role of Safe Houses, domestic violence and cross-cultural interactions were elicited. One of the other main foci of my internship was to learn how the Safe House functioned, culminating in managing the institution individually over two short periods. Finally, a large portion of my time in Wadeye was spent with the women of the Palngun Wurnangat Women’s Association, learning stories about country and the process of producing fabrics and weaving incorporating local totems. These experiences were some of my most rewarding, as I gained more personal understandings of local culture and was finally able to feel like a ‘real anthropologist’. I feel very honoured to have been invited to a funeral by one of my Indigenous co-workers at the Safe House, which proved to be equally a chance for anthropological insight as it was a confronting and moving emotional experience.

I encourage all students and recent graduates studying within anthropology, above mentioned social sciences or law to apply for this program. The Aurora internships take place twice annually, during the summer and winter university breaks (with some flexibility), in a range of major (and minor) cities throughout Australia. The internships usually run for 5-6 weeks, although longer paid placements are available from one month to one year, following on from an internship.
Applications for the 2012 winter round of internships are currently open and will close at 5pm AEDT on Friday 30th March. For more information and the application process, please visit the Aurora Program website: http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram
 

Juliette Mundy

Having graduated from UCL with a degree in anthropology I became interested in issues pertaining to Australia’s indigenous populations whilst travelling yet I was still unclear as to how I could translate my interests into paid employment. I chanced upon the Aurora Project and recognised that this was an excellent opportunity for me to gain meaningful experience in practical anthropology.

The Aurora Native Title Internship Program places anthropology, some social science, and law students and graduates with Native Title Representative Bodies, and other Indigenous organisations working in policy development, human rights and social justice/welfare, for 5-6 week internships during the winter and summer university breaks. I was fortunate, as an international graduate, to be offered a placement with CSSU at the Wadeye Safe House. The emphasis of these internships is on providing assistance to under-staffed and under-resourced organisations, but I also found that being in an Aboriginal community offered plenty of opportunities to initiate my own learning.

CSSU have only recently opened the Safe House at Wadeye, the construction of which was part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response or ‘Intervention’, and my very being in Wadeye was a political issue for me to consider. CSSU had not placed an intern before so it was a learning experience for both parties; however my supervisor was herself an Aurora alumnus and keen to ensure my experience was as positive as hers had been.

I can imagine it would have been quite daunting arriving in Wadeye for the first time had I not previously spent time in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, however there were plenty of people who were keen to make me feel at home and ensure that I was not socially isolated, very important when the only road into town is closed for 6 months of the year! I felt extremely fortunate with my accommodation as I was given my own room in probably one of the nicest houses in the community and we had a large guard dog which helped me to sleep at night.

Wadeye has gained a lot of bad press over the years and while I do not dispute that this is a troubled community I did not feel unsafe there at any time, though I would not recommend walking around alone at night without a friend and a big stick as there are a lot of cheeky camp dogs.

There were three strands to my internship: learning about the day-to-day running of the Safe House and therefore be able to cover shifts and assist the acting Manager; a project on domestic violence that was allocated to me by the CEO; and generally observing and talking to people in the community to learn about the different services and how the community functions.
The internship culminated in me being responsible for the running of the Safe House (under the supervision of a CSSU manager) for a week whilst the acting Safe House Manager was away on a course, and creating a display about the Safe House and domestic violence for the indigenous women at the town’s Women’s Health and Wellbeing Day.

I learnt a lot from meeting people in the community and had many stimulating and challenging conversations with other service providers which made me consider what I could bring to a community development role. As a result of this internship I have been offered a job at the Wadeye Safe House.

Applications for the winter 2012 round of Aurora internships will be open in February 2012 on-line via their website on www.auroraproject.com.au. Take a look at the website for more details about the program
 

GLSC

Carla Chan Unger

The Native Title Internship Program provides law and anthropology latter-year students and recent graduates with insight into the workings of an Aboriginal land council. Coordinated by the Aurora Project, the internship program introduces students to career opportunities in native title and Indigenous affairs, and primarily provides assistance to Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs). NTRBs are non-government organisations that support Indigenous people with all aspects of their native title claims. Staff at the land councils are typically under-resourced and overworked and are, therefore, grateful for the assistance an intern can offer to ease their workloads. 

I spent a fascinating five weeks as an intern at the Goldfields Land and Sea Council (GLSC) in the dusty, outback town of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia – 700km inland from Perth. During my time at GLSC I was introduced not only to native title, but to land rights, protection of cultural heritage, Aboriginal traditional laws and customs and to the unique challenges GLSC faces as an NTRB in serving this area of Western Australia. Aside from the difficulties presented by the Australian justice system, various levels of government and funding shortfalls, GLSC also faces immense frustrations in negotiating with the mining industries, and in helping claimants to establish clear connection to land in a region that has been heavily influenced by missionary practices since sovereignty. For all these reasons and more, GLSC has suffered considerable disappointment in successfully determining native title. 

As an intern, I became acquainted with the roles anthropologists play within the system, as I was placed under the supervision of the research department. I found the in-house anthropologist to be an invaluable source of information as she willingly and patiently answered my plethora of questions, and made an effort to expose me to the native title processes as much as possible. My understanding of native title matters was also richly enhanced through conversations with lawyers, archaeologists, Aboriginal policy officers and administrative staff, who often shared with me their contrasting viewpoints. 

The major task I was assigned during my time at GLSC involved working with genealogical data (i.e. family trees) collected by Tindale, a well-known anthropologist from the 1930s-1970s. Through exposure to genealogies I became familiar with complex Aboriginal skin names and kinship systems. I came to understand how essential genealogies are as an evidentiary tool in the native title process and came to appreciate their ability to document the continuity of connections amongst claimants and their relation to particular country. During the final week of my placement, I also helped to compose a policy for future access to anthropological research materials. 

One of the more rewarding aspects of my internship experience was the field trips in which we went ‘out bush’ in order to conduct heritage surveys, always accompanied by a Traditional Owner. On these occasions I was given a rare opportunity to visit a number of Aboriginal sites that had recently been disturbed. One had been damaged due to land clearance in the aftermath of a bushfire, and the other due to the trampling of a farmer’s cattle herd. During these trips I was able to observe how heritage assessments are typically performed, and assisted by recording GPS coordinates and in taking photos of the damages. 

As a city girl, I found the field trips especially exciting as we would travel for hours in a four-wheel drive, following only the faintest of tyre tracks in the red sand. We covered hundreds of kilometres of beautiful and rugged, sunburnt country. On the way home one afternoon, we stopped for a cup of billy-tea under the shade of a big eucalyptus tree and learned the traditional techniques of witchetty-grub (marku) hunting, sampled sandalwood nut and native silky pear (karlkurla). During times such as these, I saw people’s deep-rooted love for their county first-hand and came to have a much better appreciation of the strong Aboriginal attachment to, and identity with, land and particular places of significance and familiarity. 

Other highlights of my trip included independently exploring the surrounding country within the region. One weekend, my fellow intern and I travelled south to the coastal town of Esperance. The beaches were magnificent with powder-fine, ebony-white sand and brilliant aqua waters. Since we accidentally left the tent poles and pegs behind, we slept both nights in our cosy swags beneath the stars – something I have never done before but would happily do again (even if next time I remember to bring my tent poles). Another weekend, we camped on the edge of Lake Ballard, an enormous salt lake surrounded by cast-iron human figurines. A magnificent lightning, thunder and wind storm had us cowering inside our car in pitch darkness waiting for it to pass. 

The remaining weekends I stayed put in Kalgoorlie and tried to make the most of the time in my new hometown. From the moment I arrived, Kalgoorlie struck me as a place absolutely teeming with character. As a mining settlement during the Gold Rush, the streets were built unusually wide in order to accommodate the turning of camel carts. There are an astounding 36 pubs, most of which advertise skimpily clad bartenders who serve beer in their lingerie. Additionally, the whole town teeters on the edge of ‘the Super Pit’ – a gaping hole of a mine that is so large it is apparently only one of two manmade structures visible from space. And on top of all this, I was consistently overwhelmed by the warm and welcoming nature of the local people who would eagerly and proudly show me around the town. 

I can safely declare that this internship was a cultural and educational experience unlike any other. After studying ‘textbook’ anthropology in the classroom for years, it was refreshing and inspiring to observe the discipline in its more practical and applied form. I believe any anthropology student or graduate with an interest in native title and Aboriginal rights should strongly consider applying for the internship program.

For more information about the Aurora Project Internship Program go to www.auroraproject.com.au

 

 

Gemma Irving

When I was accepted to undertake an Aurora internship in Anthropology at the Goldfields Land and Sea Council in Kalgoorlie, WA, I was told to have low expectations. Land councils are hectic places, funding is tight and staff are overworked. Interns like me are placed to take the stress off a little and to help out with the filing. Hopefully, on the side, we will gain some idea about what anthropologists do in the real world, make some good contacts and enjoy ourselves enough to seriously consider working in native title in the future. So when in early January this year I found myself four-wheel driving with a heritage anthropologist and some traditional owners, along one of Australia’s most spectacular beaches near the tourist town of Esperance, I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t come to the Western Desert for the ocean views, but I wasn’t complaining!

The Aurora Project provides the opportunity for anthropology, social science and law students to get out into the field to find out first hand how native title, heritage and other Aboriginal issues operate in the real world. Aurora places interns at Native Title Representative Bodies and at various other Indigenous organisations around the country. I was placed at the Goldfields Land and Sea Council (GLSC), a representative body which primarily deals with Native Title, but which is also involved in other areas such as economic development, land acquisition, and heritage. I was lucky enough to start my internship during early January, a rare quiet time for the Land Council. This meant I had the perfect opportunity to meet staff members in a relaxed environment before things got hectic. Everyone at the GLSC was very welcoming, keen to share their knowledge and almost always up for a chat. In particular, the project officers, all of who are traditional owners, were a great source of information about what was going on out on country and what local Aboriginal people expect from anthropologists and the land council.

During my six weeks at the GLSC I watched the pace of things heat up. In my second week I was lucky enough to tag along on a heritage survey in a spectacular, coastal national park just out of Esperance. I felt privileged to talk with local traditional owners on their country, to learn about the eco-tourism business that some of them run and to have had the chance to work on my goanna tracking skills! By late January, the seemingly endless round of meetings generated by the native title process and the land council’s other activities were in full swing. I made it up to Leonora to attend a meeting with a mining company representative, the GLSC’s economic development officer and some very inspiring local Aboriginal women. Work for Aboriginal people can be hard to come by in some of the smaller towns in the Goldfields, so many are keen to take advantage of opportunities offered by some of the more socially concious mining companies. By the time Februray came around the Kalgoorlie office became heavily populated by GLSC staff who were usually based in Perth. Lawyers, in particular, suddenly appeared from everywhere, signalling that it was time to get down to business on the Native Title side of things. I was lucky enough to be able to attend meetings for a claim in its primary stages, as well as one about to enter into a second round of mediation with the Western Australian Government.

During my time at the land council I quickly learnt that nothing in native title or heritage is straightforward. The GLSC represents an area which stretches from the coastline to the desert and as a consequence works with Aboriginal people whose cultures and opinions are as diverse as the area’s geographical landscape. Unfortunately, fifteen years of native title has failed to deliver legal recognition of Aboriginal ownership over any of the land in the Goldfields. The area is an important source of gold and nickel, and more recently uranium exploration has been heating up. Amongst many miners, the fear that recognition of native title in the area will slow up development is still quite strong. However, whilst some developers try to shirk the rules, others go above and beyond what is required and do their best to navigate the complex local politics of Aboriginal people. In the Goldfields, Aboriginal claims to country are highly contested and native title issues have evolved as a result. Many local traditional owners are upset that native title has delivered only marginal benefits and often accuse the land council of holding things up and favouring other Aboriginal families over their own. In amongst all this anthropologists and lawyers work (and don’t work) together and are constantly negotiating reasonable ways to get around the fact that the disciplines of law and anthropology have approaches and ethical systems which are often irreconcilable. On the worst days working at a land council can be incredibly frustrating, but on the upside it is never boring and is very rewarding.

 I am very fortunate to have had the mentorship of the three very passionate anthropologists who work at the land council. Thanks to them, I learnt the importance of listening, of yarning and of building strong relationships. I learnt to be respectful of traditional owners and the knowledge they hold, but also that in order to gain their respect in return, I must stick up for myself and not be walked over. Most importantly I gained the confidence to work with and write about Aboriginal people. When I first came to Kalgoorlie I felt painfully aware that I was yet another idealistic, white kid with little more to my name than an arts degree. Three years of studying anthropology had instilled in me a deep concern about the colonising effects of my chosen discipline, and I very much felt that it was best that Aboriginal people represented and dealt with their own issues. My time at the GLSC taught me that both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians must be involved if Indigenous rights are to be recognised in a meaningful way. The Aurora Project provided me with a tantalising taste of what it is like to work in native title and I thoroughly recommend it to other aspiring anthropologists, lawyers and social scientists.

For more information about the Aurora Project internship program go to www.auroraproject.com.au

 

Olivia Lim

Since the historic Mabo decision in 1992 paved the way for the making of land claims by Indigenous people in Australia, native title law has been an important and dynamic part of Australian law. However, there is little public knowledge about the procedure and complexities involved in the making of native title claims and the operations of Native Title Representative Bodies. The Aurora Project aims to increase awareness about the work of Indigenous organisations and facilitate opportunities for Australians to work in these organisations. One of the ways in which it does this is through its Internship Program, which gives students and graduates in Law, Anthropology and some Social Sciences the chance to undertake 5 to 6 week placements at a number of Indigenous organisations across Australia working native title, social justice, human rights and Indigenous affairs.

I applied for an internship with a very shallow knowledge of native title, hoping to learn more about the process and to see it in practice. I had always been interested in social justice issues and wanted to find out if native title could provide a way for me to blend my undergraduate studies in Law and Arts (Anthropology) in future employment. I was fortunate enough to be placed in the Perth office of the Goldfields Land and Sea Council (GLSC), and began my first day with a warm welcome from the staff.

My first task was to sort though various archival records dating as far back as the 19th Century to help establish connections of potential claimants to an area for a proposed new native title claim. I learnt that Anthropologists are not only involved in ‘participant observation’ style research in their line of work, but must also spend a great deal of time looking at the work of others. It made me realise that the work of an Anthropologist requires a great amount of dedication and organisation. A part of this task was to write up narratives of the potential claimants as I found references to them in the records. It was fascinating to see names ‘come alive’ as I engaged in this process.

I was able to attend one day of a conference for native title practitioners during my second week at GLSC, which was an eye-opening experience. I sat in on a round-table discussion on the future of native title Anthropology, and was able to hear about the challenges, concerns and developments in native title practice that had recently occurred. A broad range of issues associated with native title were discussed, from the differences between Indigenous and Anglo-Australia conceptions of ‘society’ to difficulties experienced by NTRBs in the employment and retention of native title practitioners. It was great to be in an environment where everyone was so passionate about their work.

Another task I was assigned was to continue the work of past interns for the GLSC by entering the genealogical data collected by earlier ethnographic researchers such as Norman Tindale and Daisy Bates into a database for easy access by the GLSC’s researchers. I found this task to be particularly challenging, because one individual could have a number of different names in the historic records, and even if he only had one name it could be spelt differently on different pages of the data. It was often difficult to figure out exactly who the data was referring to, let alone who they were connected or related to! The sheer volume of the data was such that I would spend whole days of work entering information into the database, and I would seem to be getting nowhere! However, I knew that this work I was doing would make a positive contribution to the researching of claims in the Goldfields area, which encouraged me to keep going. Fortunately, I was able to complete this task during my internship, and the feeling of fulfilment I had presenting the finished task to my supervisor was one I’ll never forget.

During my internship I was given the opportunity to fly to Kalgoorlie to help prepare for and sit in on a claim group meeting. This was the highlight of my internship for me, as I was able to meet the subjects of my research and explore a whole new place. Through my observation of the claim meeting, I realised how long and drawn out a process it can be even to get to the stage of registering a claim. Every stage of a native title claim is fraught with cultural and political sensitivities, and Anthropologists working in native title with Aboriginal communities must not only possess knowledge of that area and the people, but must also be skilled in interpersonal communication, dispute resolution, and the legal requirements of lodging a claim to be effective. It was great to be able to chat with some members of the Aboriginal community as well. They provided me with a different perspective on native title, and as they told me of the many obstacles they had faced in their fight for native title. I developed a deeper empathy for them, and got a sense of the many areas of native title law that still need to be developed.

My last week of GLSC was spent back at the Perth office, where I was involved in collating and summarising all the minutes of past claim group meetings for a particular area. The aim of this task was to create a document that outlines all the outcomes of past meetings to be sent out to all those who had attended those meetings and could potentially be the claimant group for the area. I sat in on a staff meeting between the in-house anthropologist for the GLSC and the legal department, which taught me a great deal about the need for interdisciplinary cooperation in native title claims. The last task I was assigned was to refine the completed genealogical database I had previously completed. This involved adding personal information to the individuals listed in the database, and inferring connections between people where possible. Although I was unable to finish this task during my internship, it will be continued by successive interns for the GLSC.

By conversing with the staff and watching them at work, I was incredibly struck by their determination, passion and sensitivity. From my first day at the GLSC they have taken me under their wing, letting me get involved in their work and answering all my questions, no matter how silly they might have been. I feel so grateful for their kindness and support. In particular, I would like to thank Janet Osborne and Craig Muller for being my supervisors and giving me such a great insight into native title in Australia.
Applications for the upcoming sum mer 2011/12 round of internships are open on-line via the Autrora website from 8 August through 2 September at www.auroraproject.com.au.
 

KLC

Katherine Bellchambers

For as long as I can remember, I have had a passion to learn about and engage with Indigenous cultures. Through my Aurora internship I have been able to build on this passion, gain valuable work experience and meet many inspiring people.
I am an Arts/Science student graduating at the end of this semester with majors in Indigenous Studies, Anthropology, Geography and Psychology. During the winter break, I undertook a 6 week anthropology internship at the Kimberley Land Council (KLC) in Broome. My supervisor was a senior anthropologist and with her guidance I completed a variety of tasks from filing and map cataloguing to assisting with a literature review, taking minutes at meetings and attending on country trips.

Through my time at the KLC I was able to get an inside perspective on how a Native Title Representative Body operates, observe some of the challenges and complexities of the native title process and gain so much from my co-workers who were incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. I was privileged to attend on country meetings where I experienced life in an Aboriginal community and witnessed some of the practical considerations, personal impacts and cross-cultural challenges involved in this work.

Through my internship I feel I have developed a deeper and more nuanced understanding of native title as well as Indigenous people and cultures more broadly. Additionally, my experiences were enriched by living in such a beautiful remote area and making new social connections. I would highly recommend the Aurora internship program to anyone who has ever contemplated a career in Indigenous affairs. Not only is it a valuable avenue for personal development and to explore your career options, but it is a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to an Indigenous organisation.

For more information about the Kimberley Land Council, visit http://klc.org.au/
 

Renata Centinich

In preparation for my interview for the Aurora Native Title Internship Program, I was forwarded the link to a document titled “A Report into the Professional Development needs of Native Title Representative Body Lawyers”. At first this seemed odd as I was an anthropology internship applicant, but in good faith, I skimmed through parts of the 175 page document, hoping it would help my chances of being selected for a placement. It was through reading parts of this document that I was able to gain a greater insight into the workings of Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRB’s) and the difficulties and challenges they face as organisations.

Throughout my degree I had been taught to understand the anthropology of the Native Title process and its outcomes. I had been well versed in critical arguments surrounding the confining nature of governmental and legal processes; and how the anthropological research which is produced under such conditions is inevitably skewed by these legal pressures and requirements.

Experiencing and understanding NTRB’s as workplaces and organisations is another matter altogether. My placement with one particular NTRB, the Kimberley Land Council (KLC) provided an invaluable experience in both my professional development as well as my knowledge of how anthropological theory fits into the real life context of ‘going to work’.

My time with the KLC was very much like the experiences you might read about from other interns. I was overwhelmed and admiring of the talented, hardworking and passionate individuals who I met. It was very valuable to view both the raw anthropological data and the polished final reports of senior anthropologists in the field, and I found inspiring conversations and experiences everywhere. I simply had a fabulous time all round. I could easily write an article about how wonderful everything was, but I feel that there is enough already said by other interns about how amazing an experience an internship can be. Perhaps what I’m alluding to is the respect I now have for the individuals who work in such organisations and the pressures which they endure; and how the work life of those who are part of NTRB’s can be incredibly challenging.

The NTRB is a place which holds uncertainty, shifting goalposts and unpredictable elements. Pressures are exerted from all directions; within the organisation, external to it, within the claimant groups, and from the broader legal and state mechanisms which interact with native title. It is not by any stretch of the imagination an ideal or straightforward situation. The word ‘ideal’ is important here. If I was to idealise the work and the organisation too heavily, then it would be unhelpful in truly describing how valuable my experience was.
For example, I was able to see a consent determination of native title for the Bunuba people in the Kimberley, an occasion which consisted of a Federal Court hearing under a marquee at Geikie Gorge with approximately 300 community members present. It was a privilege to witness, let alone contribute to, and it is an experience that I will treasure.

Yet the knowledge I gained about the enormous amount of background work which went into the Bunuba claim, one which took over 13 years to finalise, was also an inspirational and illuminating experience.

The tough work life and the stretched resources I witnessed brought a stark reality to my internship, and it helped me understand the extra sweetness that the victories within this field of work can bring. My emotions during my internship were true to the highs and lows to be experienced in this type of workplace.

This might sound a little negative and some who read this might be thinking to themselves:
‘Gee, I wonder what happened during her internship to make her write about her experience in such a way?’
The answer to that question can be found in taking a chance and applying for an internship yourself. Anthropology is a discipline which asks its practitioners to dive into another world and to participate while observing. This is perhaps why people who have a passion for anthropology should seriously take the opportunity to delve into the world of native title and Indigenous affairs and make up their own minds about the place of anthropological theory in grounded realities.
I can, after my short time with the KLC, honestly say that I have returned home to face my Honours year with renewed inspiration, a more consolidated opinion, and an honest desire to contribute in some way to the native title sector; warts and all.

Applications for the upcoming winter 2013 round of internships will be open on-line via the Aurora website from 4th through 28th March 2013 at http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram
 

NCIE

Isabella Maxwell-Williams

The Aurora Project Internship Experience: Article for Vertigo

The phrase ‘closing the gap’ seems to be at the fore of most political and social commentary relating to current Indigenous affairs, and holds particular significance in such a heated political climate. The phrase makes reference to the educational, economic and social inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and the importance of implementing and sustaining governmental and non-governmental projects, which will ensure that the discrepancies which constitute this gap are addressed and improved. This phrase became particularly important to me during my experience as an Aurora intern with the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Redfern, Sydney.

In March of this year, I applied for the winter 2010 round of Aurora Native Title Internships on the Social Science stream. The Aurora Project is a non-government organization, which places legal, anthropology and some social science students and graduates as interns with native title representative bodies (NTRBs) and other organizations working in policy, human rights and Indigenous affairs. . My successful application facilitated my placement with the NCIE where I worked for 5 weeks, and was given the amazing opportunity to engage with local and national Indigenous Affairs in a practical, educational and stimulating way.

My time at the NCIE over the 2010 mid-year break, exposed me to the dedication, inspiration and passion with which organizations are working to institute tangible and practical change for Indigenous Australians, and truly make moves to close this proverbial gap. The NCIE is a not for profit organization, which has a state of the art educational, health and recreation centre located on the site of the old Redfern Primary School and has the sole purpose of encouraging and supporting a culture of excellence within the local and national Indigenous community. During my placement I was required to evaluate and comment on the current educational and economic policy directly affecting Indigenous Australians, attend meetings with various high-profile political and religious figures and work on and develop Indigenous youth related strategy for the Centre. I was also involved with the organization and celebration of NAIDOC Week 2010.
The NCIE was officially opened by Kevin Rudd at the beginning of this year and has attracted a great deal of political interest because of the inspired, renewed and enthusiastic energy which so characterizes the projects and initiatives coming out of this centre. The NCIE aims to have 5000 Indigenous students attend and be involved with its educational programmes each year. In working alongside both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within this space, I witnessed first-hand the local manifestation of a reconciled Australia.

As an Aurora intern my exposure to this new forceful energy, which is now fuelling discussion around reconciliation and improvement of Indigenous affairs was profoundly inspiring. I felt as though I was part of a catalyst for social change, which will define the direction of Indigenous affairs in the coming years. This would not have been possible without the work of the Aurora Project. The Aurora crew worked tirelessly to place me with a host organization, which would match my academic interests and thus ensure a truly invaluable, enlightening and inspiring experience. The Aurora Project offers 5 – 6 week social science, legal and anthropology internships over the summer and winter uni breaks and if Indigenous affairs and social change are ideas which appeal to you, I would highly recommend applying.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I learnt from my time as an Aurora intern with the NCIE; not only in terms of the expansion of my understanding of Indigenous affairs, but also a deeper awareness of the importance of non-government organizations in bringing the political rhetoric into fruition through creating an informed dialogue between Indigenous Australians and mainstream institutional bodies. I now have a renewed and strong faith in the move to ‘close the gap’ and the growing empowerment of the Indigenous voice.

Applications for the summer 2010/11 round of internship are open through 3 September via the Aurora website at www.auroraproject.com.au.
http://www.auroraproject.com.au/About.htm
http://www.ncie.org.au/

NCIS

Natalia Gould

A unique and invaluable experience working in Indigenous affairs

During the recent summer break, I had the honour of taking part in the Aurora Internship program, offered through the Aurora Project, at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS) at the ANU in Canberra.

The Internship Program is a unique initiative offered to undergraduate and graduate law, anthropology and social science students of Australian universities. Interns are placed in Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs), Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs) and other Indigenous organisations (including Indigenous corporations, government bodies, policy and not-for-profit organisations, and community groups) across Australia during winter and summer breaks.

Interns gain invaluable work experience and exposure to Indigenous affairs, whilst supportingthe often under-resourced organisations. Interns sent to NTRBs and NTSPs often work in native title and land rights, whilst interns at other organisations may work in a wide range of areas, such as policy, governance, health, education, and economic development.
I was placed in a research and policy centre through the Anthropology stream. I was required to independently conduct, with supervision, a research project into ethics management tools in Indigenous organisations across Australia. In order to conduct such a task I learnt about historical and contemporary issues in Indigenous ownership and management of land in all states and territories. I gained in-depth knowledge about the different Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations involved (such as Land Councils, NTRBs and NTSPs, Aboriginal Corporations, State and Commonwealth agencies, Natural Resource Management groups, Indigenous networks, Traditional Owners, etc.), their various functions and histories, and the ways in which they relate to, and are associated with, each other. I also communicated with staff from various organisations in order to learn about current protocols, tools and guidelines in use and in development across Australia.

This was a wonderful experience as I had little knowledge about contemporary Indigenous affairs prior to it. It also allowed me to hone my research skills in a professional environment and learn from the other NCIS academics. It will hopefully also result in my publication as co-author of an article in a forthcoming special edition of the Australian Aboriginal Studies journal (an AIATSIS publication) – which is an amazing opportunity for an undergraduate student!
All in all it was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it to other law, anthropology and social science students interested in Indigenous affairs. Although my experience would have differed considerably from those placed at NTRBs and NTSPs, and maybe even those placed at other organisations, I have heard plenty of positive feedback from alumni placed elsewhere. Which is another bonus: I am now part of a unique and supportive network of Aurora alumni, some who have gained full-time work in Aurora placement organisations.

The application process for Winter 2010 unfortunately closed on April 1st, however the Aurora Project are accepting applications again early in semester 2 for summer internships. Keep your eyes firmly fixed on the website, provided below, for the next application round! The website also provides information on the Aurora Project (who are involved with a number of initiatives supporting Indigenous organisations), as well as detailed descriptions of the Internship and application process.

Aurora Project: http://www.auroraproject.com.au
NCIS: http://law.anu.edu.au/NCIS/
 

NNTC

Chris Speldewinde

I am an anthropologist and I need to work in Australia as I have a young family who are very settled in their community in regional Victoria. When I first started down the path of becoming an anthropologist, particularly as a mature age student, my wife would regularly ask me ‘what are you going to do with this Anthropology stuff?’ More often than not, I could only provide her with an incoherent mumble amounting to nothing of substance.

So, fast forward to the present. Armed with an Arts degree and honours in Anthropology, as well as being two-thirds of the way through PhD candidature, I recently started to consider, ‘well, when the PhD is done, what’s next?’ A quick search of the better known employment search engines for ‘Anthropologists’ kept bringing up a similar issue. All the jobs seemed to be in native title and my undergraduate years had devoted basically no time to this area of work.
So where to from here? I was fortunate to gain a place on a 9 day intensive Masterclass at James Cook University that dealt with Native Title, a great starting point. Find out some background; learn some theory; hear from people working as Anthropologists in Native title what it’s like. One box ticked…

But, how do I get job experience (because how often do you see…experience in native title preferred)? How do I find out if I’m right for Native Title and Native Title is right for me? How can I get a foot in the door? That’s where the Aurora Internship steps up.

I was lucky enough over the summer of 2012/13 to gain an internship as part of the Aurora Native Title Internship Program at the Native Title Representative Body (NTRB), Native Title Services Victoria (NTSV) for the six weeks leading up to Christmas. During this time I had the opportunity to use the skills I’d gained through four years of undergraduate study and came away with a sense that, yes, I can do this Anthropology stuff. I got the chance to do research work on seminal Anthropological themes such as kinship and Indigenous culture whilst at the same supporting the Anthropologists at NTSV with editing and extracting data from reports that NTSV had commissioned. This was great as it allowed me to gain a sense of the work that Anthropologists do in the field, which, you aren’t going to get the chance to do as an undergraduate AND it gave me an insight into how an NTRB functions. It was really interesting stuff and gave me the confidence to want to pursue Anthropology as a career path.

Even more amazing was that Aurora contacted me to undertake a second internship straight after Christmas as the National Native Title Council (NNTC) needed help with a major research project they are developing . Again, lots of web-based research and clerical support in developing reports and marketing allowed me to test and apply the skills that I have. Of course, from a personal development perspective, another leg in a door that could lead to employment!
So, if you are like me and think that Anthropology is for you as a career option, a great place to start is through the Aurora Project (www.auroraproject.com.au) as you have the chance to get into an organisation and make a valuable contribution to the work of Anthropologists and researchers who are in the field. The people from the Aurora Placements Team are extremely supportive of their interns through regular contact and are extremely approachable, and make this an enjoyable experience.

Applications for the upcoming winter 2013 round of internships will be open on-line via the Aurora website from 4th through 28th March 2013 at http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram
 

Madeleine Rudge

Internship at the National Native Title Council

Last summer break, I had one of my most engaging and rewarding experiences since starting university. In 2012 I finished my third year of a law-arts degree, then spent 8 weeks of my summer holidays doing a voluntary internship at the National Native Title Council (NNTC), in Melbourne, as part of the Aurora Native Title Internship Program.

The NNTC is the peak representative body for Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs). These government-funded organisations assist Indigenous people with their native title claims and other matters including negotiating Indigenous Land Use Agreements. The NNTC represents the views of NTRBs through submissions to government, engagement in consultation processes and speaking out on significant native title matters. The NNTC also promotes the interests of Traditional Owners and their communities in relation to land and native title issues. The tasks I carried out were an interesting mix of law and policy work.

My supervisors gave me substantial tasks that were at the heart of the NNTC’s work. Most of my work involved drafting submissions or writing advice for the NNTC’s submission in response to government consultation papers or bills before parliament. These tasks required me to apply my knowledge of native title law and understanding of Indigenous social policy to consider implications of proposed legislative changes on NTRBs, Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities – I learnt a lot in the process. I quickly learnt about unfamiliar laws. I learnt a lot about current policies underpinning native title law and issues relating to NTRBs and Traditional Owner Groups. Also, I got to venture out of the office for a number of events.

Although my internship was with the NNTC, I consider myself lucky to have got two internships in one. The NNTC is housed in Native Title Services Victoria (NTSV). The NTSV staff welcomed me and invited me along to a number of events, including two native title workshops held at the Melbourne University’s law school. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to talk to native title lawyers and the policy advisors to Traditional Owner Corporations who work at NTSV.

Through the tasks I completed, people I met, and workshops I attended, I engaged in current native title issues:

• The tax treatment of native title benefits;
• The introduction of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission;
• The changing functions of Native Title Representative Bodies;
• Objectives for Traditional Owner Corporations;
• The governance standards of charitable trusts that deal with native title benefits; and
• The National Cultural Flows Research Project, which is working towards securing Indigenous cultural flow rights and interests through Indigenous water allocations within Australia’s water planning and management frameworks.

Before I went to the NNTC, my goal was to work in the area of native title and/or Indigenous social policy. My internship further encouraged this and gave me a great insight into where I will head after graduation.

Applications for mid-year winter Aurora internships round close on March 28. Applications are open to law, anthropology and some social science students and graduates. Possible placements are NTRBs or an Indigenous organisation working in land rights, policy development, social justice or human rights. Students who are interested can apply online at www.auroraproject.com.au

NTSV

Bethany King

Cultural anthropology appealed to me because of its earnest aims and problematic past, its attempts to address the humbling question of how it is that we, as humans (a species like any other) came to develop the elaborate and diverse cultural artefacts which are the cause of such pride and friction. This made sense to me, because it seemed that we needed to better understand the common assumptions which often lie behind our cultural differences.

While at uni I undertook cultural anthropological subjects on topics including economics, family structures, the human mind, the body, religion, politics and Aboriginal Australia. These taught me that I should attempt to deconstruct the processes by which our cultures have developed, to look for the purpose or meaning behind certain cultural practices and traditions, to utilise local understandings. I was warned of the potential pitfalls which result from considering cultures as static entities and failing to recognize the subjectivity of the ethnographer’s perspective.

I did not have any experience of native title prior to my internship, but had enjoyed an eye-opening introduction to Indigenous Australian cultures while undertaking the subject ‘Garma Fieldwork’ several years before, based around the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land. I attended forums staffed with Indigenous leaders and key thinkers on topical issues such as education and health; I sat weaving with the older women and learned that observing, copying and accepting the seemingly offhand advice thrown your way will teach you much more than asking endless questions. I learnt about sideways communication, about the equal but distinct cultural practices performed by men and women, about the linking of country and person, of person and family, of art, history and politics.

With my Arts degree moving to a close I was struck by the worrying realisation that although I found anthropology incredibly interesting at university, I didn’t actually know what anthropologists did in the real world of pay-packets and 9-5. I was told about The Aurora Project internship by a friend studying law. Remembering my Garma experience, I reasoned that working in an area where I could further explore the fascinating complexities of the different Indigenous cultures would be a great way to utilise what I had learned about the anthropological approach while working in pursuit of something tangible and important; native title.

Native title

Following Koiki Mabo’s historic victory in 1992 native title became a reality. More than a land grant, the decision in support of native title declared that the land in question had always belonged to the Indigenous claimants. This momentous shift in legal thinking dismissed the assumption of ‘terra nullius’ upon which Australia was founded, and heralded a new era in the fight for Indigenous land rights.

The victory, however, was short-lived. The Native Title Act 1993 and Native Title Amendment Acts of 1998 and 2007, as well as the common law repercussions of previous native title decisions have made proving native title more and more complex. In placing the onus of proof of connection squarely on the claimants’ shoulders these Acts made positive native title decisions very difficult to achieve, and created an immense workload for the claimants and organisations assisting them.

Due to the complexity of the process, it is important that Indigenous communities receive assistance in pursuing native title. There are a number of different organisations funded to do this, with the majority being Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs) and Representative Bodies (NTRBs); government statute bodies established as a result of the Native Title Act 1993.

The Aurora Project Internships are primarily a method of reducing the workload of staff in these organisations, while allowing students like me the opportunity to get an insight into their world. In an industry that is chronically under-resourced and where there are severe difficulties in attracting experienced research and legal staff, the internships also aim to attract motivated students toward a career in native title.

The internship

My host organisation, Native Title Services Victoria (NTSV) is the sole Native Title Service Provider for Victoria. It occupies an unassuming yellow building in North Melbourne and provides assistance with native title claims for all Victorian indigenous groups. Its multi-disciplinary team is composed of lawyers, community liaison officers, administration personnel and research staff, including anthropologists and historians.

I undertook a range of tasks during my internship with NTSV, including database entry and auditing, research tasks, and a research project. I also attended the research team’s staff meetings and reading groups.

My first task involved entering NTSV’s fieldwork catalogue database with transcripts from the most recent bout of fieldwork. Prior to my arrival, NTSV anthropologists had interviewed knowledgeable members of relevant Indigenous communities – often elders and group leaders – about links to claimed country. Reading through the interviews was interesting, opening my eyes to a different history of the claim areas than the Europeanised versions learnt in school. Being Victorian, most of the places mentioned were familiar to me and I loved the different perspective that the stories provided, often on sites of previous family holidays and the like.

I also worked on an audit of this database, which gave me an appreciation for the comprehensive nature of NTSV’s research materials collection. It includes work by all prominent authors on Australian Aboriginal history and culture, as well as an extensive range of archival materials.

I was asked to complete a number of short research tasks during my internship. These involved summarising work by prominent reconstructive historians on the boundaries of two Victorian Indigenous groups at time of European settlement, and critically evaluating their conclusions with reference to all primary ethnographic materials cited. This work was used by my supervisor and the in-house historian as supporting material for a large report being compiled on the boundaries of a particular claim group and all of its neighbours.

These tasks were a great opportunity for me to clarify in my mind the various complicated definitions of ‘group’ (ie. ‘clan’, ‘tribe’, etc) in Australian Aboriginal culture, and the various rights over land that membership of these different groups entails. It also made me painfully aware of the difficulties involved in analysing the piece-meal and mostly ambiguous archival evidence which exists on Victorian tribes from time of settlement.

The task of the research staff at NTSV is complicated and entails assisting the lawyers to establish:
(1) who constitutes the claimant group,
(2) the identification and location of claim areas, and
(3) a connection between the claimant group and the claim area under traditional law and customs.

Proving connection depends greatly on the specifics of the group involved, but essentially relies on establishing ‘continuity’ of traditional laws and customs (in other words, a threshold level of similarities between those laws and customs present at time of settlement and those active today) and continuity of residence on a certain area of land. This is a difficult feat given the widespread movement of Aboriginal communities as the result of European settlement and disparagement of Aboriginal cultural practices. A string of insensitive and detrimental government policies forced communities to leave their land, abandon their way of living, and reside on mission stations or on the fringes of many towns.

NTSV works mainly with native title claimants in the preparation of connection report material. Three of the major tasks undertaken by in-house anthropologists and historians involve:
(1) deciphering the archival ethnographic materials concerning Victorian Aboriginal groups at time of settlement,
(2) utilising historical reconstructions of Indigenous societies based on these materials, and
(3) compiling contemporary information on claimant groups during fieldwork interviews with knowledgeable indigenous community members.
It then falls to an external consultant anthropologist (often an academic) to consolidate all of this material into a coherent document, which becomes the ‘connection report’.

During my internship I completed a research project identifying critiques of the old ethnographic materials (produced by early settlers and amateur ethnographers) and of the historical reconstructions (produced by contemporary academics) that attempt to map the boundaries of Aboriginal groups at the time of settlement. I produced a chapter which would potentially be included in future boundary reports.

The old ethnographic material is plagued by numerous limitations, among them the ethnographers’ lack of formal training, their insufficient data collection techniques, the Eurocentric bias of early ethnography, and the theoretical and political conflicts between certain early ethnographers. These works, despite their many inaccuracies, are unfortunately the primary source of historical material regarding indigenous law and culture. Historical reconstructive works, while necessary, are also limited in their interpretations by the Eurocentric nature of history as a discipline (its devaluation of oral histories being a telling example of this), and a lack of appropriate analysis of the primary sources or comparison with other reconstructive sources.

The purpose of the chapter was to caution researchers against the uncritical acceptance of these materials, and critique their use as a ‘golden standard’ against which the sometimes conflicting results of contemporary fieldwork are judged.

One of the most rewarding experiences of my internship was the opportunity to talk with the anthropologists working at NTSV about their experiences working with Indigenous communities in Victoria, and to attend the weekly research meetings and reading groups. It was at these times that I developed an insight into how NTSV works as an organisation and what it is like on the ground as an anthropologist.

During the research staff meetings each researcher would outline the progress on reports for the claim they were working on, and details of any liaison with the community. Opportunities to submit papers for the upcoming Native Title Conference and participate in potential training opportunities were also flagged. The reading group sessions resembled university tutorials, and gave the staff and us interns a chance to flesh out certain theoretical issues relevant to native title. One reading group saw us discussing the various environmental and cultural influences that shape the constitution and distribution of Australian Aboriginal social groups.

Despite many obstacles and the long time that it takes for native title applications to reach an outcome, there have been some causes for celebration. In Victoria so far there have been two successful native title decisions, for the Wimmera and Gundjitmara groups. In addition, during my time at NTSV I witnessed the completion of a connection report that had been years in the making.

Looking at the map of areas currently being claimed under native title in Victoria it is clear that there is a long way to go and the process is a slow one, but I am happy knowing that there are motivated and dedicated staff working with communities to help their dreams of land rights become a reality.
For further details on the internship program, please visit The Aurora Project website at www.auroraproject.com.au.
 

Chris Speldewinde

I am an anthropologist and I need to work in Australia as I have a young family who are very settled in their community in regional Victoria. When I first started down the path of becoming an anthropologist, particularly as a mature age student, my wife would regularly ask me ‘what are you going to do with this Anthropology stuff?’ More often than not, I could only provide her with an incoherent mumble amounting to nothing of substance.

So, fast forward to the present. Armed with an Arts degree and honours in Anthropology, as well as being two-thirds of the way through PhD candidature, I recently started to consider, ‘well, when the PhD is done, what’s next?’ A quick search of the better known employment search engines for ‘Anthropologists’ kept bringing up a similar issue. All the jobs seemed to be in native title and my undergraduate years had devoted basically no time to this area of work.
So where to from here? I was fortunate to gain a place on a 9 day intensive Masterclass at James Cook University that dealt with Native Title, a great starting point. Find out some background; learn some theory; hear from people working as Anthropologists in Native title what it’s like. One box ticked…

But, how do I get job experience (because how often do you see…experience in native title preferred)? How do I find out if I’m right for Native Title and Native Title is right for me? How can I get a foot in the door? That’s where the Aurora Internship steps up.

I was lucky enough over the summer of 2012/13 to gain an internship as part of the Aurora Native Title Internship Program at the Native Title Representative Body (NTRB), Native Title Services Victoria (NTSV) for the six weeks leading up to Christmas. During this time I had the opportunity to use the skills I’d gained through four years of undergraduate study and came away with a sense that, yes, I can do this Anthropology stuff. I got the chance to do research work on seminal Anthropological themes such as kinship and Indigenous culture whilst at the same supporting the Anthropologists at NTSV with editing and extracting data from reports that NTSV had commissioned. This was great as it allowed me to gain a sense of the work that Anthropologists do in the field, which, you aren’t going to get the chance to do as an undergraduate AND it gave me an insight into how an NTRB functions. It was really interesting stuff and gave me the confidence to want to pursue Anthropology as a career path.

Even more amazing was that Aurora contacted me to undertake a second internship straight after Christmas as the National Native Title Council (NNTC) needed help with a major research project they are developing . Again, lots of web-based research and clerical support in developing reports and marketing allowed me to test and apply the skills that I have. Of course, from a personal development perspective, another leg in a door that could lead to employment!
So, if you are like me and think that Anthropology is for you as a career option, a great place to start is through the Aurora Project (www.auroraproject.com.au) as you have the chance to get into an organisation and make a valuable contribution to the work of Anthropologists and researchers who are in the field. The people from the Aurora Placements Team are extremely supportive of their interns through regular contact and are extremely approachable, and make this an enjoyable experience.

Applications for the upcoming winter 2013 round of internships will be open on-line via the Aurora website from 4th through 28th March 2013 at http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram
 

NC

Emily Ings

When I applied for the Aurora Native Title Anthropology Internship in September last year, I was nearing the end of my honours year. Reading ethnographies, articles and other literature was the closest I had come to understanding remote communities and the issues people faced in relation to land and culture. It was not until I began my 5 week internship with Ngaanyatjarra (NG) Land and Culture Council that some of the places and issues I had read about became a reality.

My experience as an anthropology intern seems to be quite different to that of others. I was the first intern from Aurora to be placed with the NG council, and I must say my experience was made unique by the hands-on work I did on the lands.

I arrived in Alice Springs just after great amounts of rain had fallen on Central Australia in February. I was so surprised to see the ‘red centre’ looking greener than Perth had looked in years. NG Council were kind enough to put me on a two day 4WD course in my first few days of arriving. It was through this course that I was able to begin to take in the amazing country, as well as learn how to drive without the luxury of bitumen at my wheels. Although I didn’t know it at the time, cars, tyres and sand were soon to become a big part of my life if I was to work on the lands.

After a few days in Alice it was time to hit the road and travel the 1000km west to the Ngaanyatjarra lands. The lands are located on the Western Australian side of where the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia borders intersect. Over the next month or so we were to be based mostly in Warburton, the largest of the several communities on the lands. From a fast paced inner city life of honours, house sharing, and work, I was forced to slow down and learn that out in Warburton things were going to be less hectic, and a lot more spaced apart (both geographically and event-wise).

As native title has passed on these lands, the work we were doing was less to do with land rights, and more related to negotiations between the recognised traditional owners and mining companies interested in sections of the land. Most of the work my supervisor and the other anthropologists were doing at the time when I was there was Preliminary Anthropological Surveys (PAS).

A PAS involves working with the Traditional Owners on sections of the land that are of interest to mining companies. These PAS’ function to establish areas where mining companies are completely banned (sacred sights, Dreaming tracks etc.) or where they may be allowed to eventually test the land for minerals. By going out on country, anthropologists are able to gather more of an understanding of the social, historical and spiritual connections to land local people have. My work, apart from helping out logistically, was to listen. Listening, as I found out, is paramount to being a budding anthropologist.

One of the most special experiences I had was camping with the traditional owners, the anthropologists, and two geologists. With a convoy of about twenty people, a PAS was conducted in a beautiful part of the lands. Here a man visited his mother’s birthplace for the first time, we ate snake and goanna and I learnt of some of the Dreaming tracks that criss-crossed the country. The way in which I was welcomed by the men and women was just amazing. One of the ladies made sure that I slept in my swag between her and the fire. She said ‘Emily, you’re a new girl, you need to feel comfortable’. And I did. The next day while the men looked at a men’s site, a few ladies and I had a cup of billy tea, while other hunted for goanna. Sitting under the desert oak with the ladies allowed for stories to be told, and my relationship with people to begin to be built.

The Aurora Project has presented me with an amazing opportunity to gain first hand knowledge of what it is like to be an anthropologist working on land today. The internship allowed me to built relationships with experienced and accomplished anthropologists, with traditional owners, as well as the wider communities within the Ngaanyatjarra lands. It has presented me with the opportunity to travel to places in Australia I would have otherwise never been to, and most importantly the Aurora Project has facilitated in me being offered a full time job working for the NG Land and Culture Council.

In just a few weeks I am packing up my life here in Perth and moving to Alice Springs. I will be working as an Indigenous Protected Area Project Officer. Not only will I be working with others to implement the current IPA plan, but I will also be assisting in the development of a women’s working on country team, and providing anthropological support at the direction of the senior anthropologist for the council.

Four years ago when I was starting my arts degree I never imagined that I would be sitting here writing that I would be working in a remote community, on the path to being an anthropologist. Without the Aurora Project I would probably be sitting here writing application after application to jobs in offices, or behind a bar. The program has, without sounding too cliché, changed my future and has presented me with an opportunity of a lifetime.

Applications for the summer 2011/12 round of Aurora internships will be open on-line via their website in August. For more details on internships offered to legal, anthro and some social science students and graduates, please take a look at their website at www.auroraproject.com.au
 

NAAJA

Elizabeth McFarlane

I first discovered the Aurora Project whilst I was studying for my final semester of a Bachelor of
Social Science, majoring in anthropology and archaeology. Practical experience or fieldwork is not something that is incorporated within my degree and after two and a half years at university I was beginning to wonder where all my study was even leading me. I jumped at the chance to apply for an Aurora Internship as I figured that this would give me the insight into what people in my field did day in, day out. I was certainly not disappointed, as my internship not only gave me the opportunity to see how social scientists work and how research projects are conducted, but also to visit amazing places and meet interesting people which I would not have otherwise.

I was placed in Darwin at the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency, an Aboriginal Legal Aid
Service in December. When I arrived, my supervisor, James, was in the planning stages of a new research project. The project aimed to investigate the impact eighteen new police stations,
established since the government Intervention, have had on remote Indigenous communities. In these first weeks we spent a lot of time meeting with various interested parties, introducing them to the project and asking for their input on how to best go about it. I spent some time researching information on these communities, like population size, access details and possible contacts in the region. I also read numerous books and articles to give me an insight into policing in Indigenous communities, the criminal justice system and violence in Indigenous communities. My favourite task I was charged with in these first few weeks was to design the survey that was to be given to the police working in the communities.  I appreciated being given such an important task and enjoyed the challenge. 

One of the best things about my internship was not only the work that I got to do, but the travelling I got to do all around the Northern Territory. After my first week in Darwin, James and I drove all the way to Alice Springs which was an awesome experience. I got to see countryside I'd never seen before, and meet interesting people at the various towns along the way. Some of the highlights along this journey for me were stopping in to see the Devil's Marbles and visiting the Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek.

I then spent the remainder of the first part of my internship in Alice Springs, continuing with our research project preparations, much the same as we did in Darwin. Alice Springs was an awesome place to visit and I was lucky enough to go out camping with James one weekend. We headed out into the West MacDonnell Ranges and spent the next two days bushwalking and swimming amongst some pretty spectacular scenery, my favourite of which was Redbank Gorge. On the drive back to Alice we stopped in at Hermannsburg, which I found interesting, as it was the first remote Indigenous community I have ever visited.

So ended the first part of my internship, however I was lucky enough to be invited back out to the Northern Territory in April over my lecture recess. This time, I was actually able to go out into one of the communities and help out with the research. James, a field officer and myself, travelled to one of the most remote communities in all of the Northern Territory, a whole days drive from Alice Springs, on a mostly unsealed and very rough road. During the four days we were in the community, we basically spent our time just chatting with the locals at all of their favourite hang-outs, which was awesome. Not only did we get a lot of people interested in helping us out with our policing research by telling us their experiences, but some locals were also willing to chat to us about their unique culture and life in general in the community. By talking with these people, I learned how to approach people without being intrusive, communicate with people when there is a language and culture boundary and how to ask people questions without influencing their answers. 

I'm very thankful that I was able to participate in my Aurora Internship. It gave me an avenue to practice skills, and make contacts with people, which might one day help me in my career. I got to meet interesting people, learn about a different culture and experience a different way of life. I also got to travel all across the Northern Territory and see sights which very few people ever get to see. I thoroughly enjoyed my internship and found it immensely worthwhile. I would encourage anyone considering a career in anthropology or social science to apply. Applications for the summer 2009/10 round of internships will be open from the 10th August through 4th September via the Aurora website.

NPYWC

Julia Grieves

As an anthropology student majoring in Indigenous studies and coming towards the end of my degree, I had been feeling unsure about what direction to head in next and how my degree would translate to work in a practical context post university. I came across the Aurora Project and the internships they offered seemed to be an engaging and an ideal opportunity for my 2011 mid semester break.

After a sustained application and interview process I was linked up with NPY Women’s Council based in Alice Springs where I would complete a five week internship over June-July. While the Aurora Project largely offers internships with Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs), they also offer a number of internships with other Indigenous organisations (including Indigenous corporations, government bodies, policy and not-for-profit organisations, and community groups). NPY Women’s Council fit into this latter category and yet they are also involved in aspects of native title and work with other NTRBs, so it seemed to be a good option for me as I wanted to get a sense of the different areas of work potentially related to my Indigenous Studies/Anthropology major.

As an intern with NPY Women’s Council I was linked up with a number of different staff working in different areas to do with Aboriginal health, education, youth, and employment. I was given the opportunity to get involved and assist with work in a variety of ways which really enabled me to get a lot out of my time there. I was mainly involved in consolidating and developing a number of reports and PowerPoint presentations based on surveys taken from different communities and assisting with future surveys to be conducted in the same communities. I was also lucky to have the opportunity to travel to a couple of communities with NPY Women’s Council to look at some of their current programs in place. The work I did really enabled me to get an understanding of how the organisation works and the different roles played both within and outside the organisation, through the government and various funding bodies.

As an intern I gained invaluable work experience and exposure to Indigenous affairs, whilst supporting an area that is often under-resourced. What really struck me about my experience as an intern was meeting a number of interesting and inspired people whose warm welcome, positivity, knowledge and dedication really motivated me to continue to pursue work in Indigenous affairs. The opportunities are diverse and varied and interns can be sent to a range of NTRBs, NTSPs and other organisations with the chance to work in a wide range of areas, such as policy, governance, health, education, and economic development. I am really glad I decided to apply for an internship through the Aurora Native Title Internship Program; it was an invaluable experience and I would highly recommend it to other law, anthropology and social science students interested in Indigenous affairs. Applications for the summer 2011/12 round are now open through 2 September on-line via the website at www.auroraproject.com.au
 

NLC

Aislinn Martin

Although I finished my anthropology degree seven years ago, when the opportunity arose to apply for the internship program I decided it was something I would like to experience. Although I have worked for Indigenous communities in urban areas, I knew that the placement would provide a unique insight into the work of land councils, and the specific needs of Indigenous people in a remote area.

During week one of my internship at a regional land council office, unseasonal rain disrupted plans for a National Parks meeting in a remote area. Instead, I was based in the office, and the anthropologist I was assigned to gave me reports to read about the region. I was lucky enough to be introduced to some senior Traditional Owners, whose stories were inspirational and historically, extremely important. By the end of the week I was able to accompany a staff member for a two day trip to a community to inform them about an upcoming meeting.

In week two I began examining some genealogies, and found the complexity of the family structures and relationships extremely challenging. As a non-Indigenous person of Anglo descent, there is no comparison between my family structure and that of an Indigenous person from the local area. It took several attempts before I could even ‘read’ the family trees. I attended a meeting between Traditional Owners and a mining company, an experience that I found very interesting. Bridging the communication gap is an important role for the anthropologist, along with making the options available abundantly clear.

Unfortunately in week three I became ill, and had to excuse myself from a four day National Parks meeting with Traditional Owners. Naturally I was very disappointed but felt that it was too risky to be isolated from medical assistance. It may also have jeopardized the health of the elderly Traditional Owners if I had participated.

Week four was spent in the capital city office, as the anthropologist had work to complete there. During this time I assisted some senior female anthropologists who are based there. This was helpful; not only was I able to witness different anthropological approaches, but I was also able to discuss career paths and the obstacles that female staff may encounter whilst working for communities that still have strong gender divisions.

In week five I was lucky to attend a different National Parks meeting with Traditional Owners. The location was very remote and the scenery spectacular. I assisted in the camp kitchen and facilitated discussions with some of the female Traditional Owners where possible. The womens’ generosity in terms of sharing their knowledge was overwhelming. Despite asking very few questions, they were forthcoming in their knowledge about the area, and I felt most privileged and welcome in their presence. For a group of people who have had some terrible experiences with non-Indigenous people, they were unexpectedly open and honest.

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship, and would recommend students or graduates to apply for the program. I believe that working for Traditional Owners is an enormous privilege, and the program can provide ‘a taste’ of what working for a land council is like. This is important, as I feel new anthropologists should be properly informed and aware of the benefits and negative aspects of working as an anthropologist. It takes time to build trusting relationships with Indigenous communities, and continuity of staff is vital. Some stories or pieces of historical information may take several years to emerge, and this only happens once the anthropologist is trusted by the Traditional Owners.

The program has certainly given me renewed vigour for my role as coordinator for an urban based Indigenous organization. The slow pace was something that struck me during the internship, and has served as a reminder that good communication and the building of relationships is far more important than constantly checking the clock.

 

 

 

Alexandra Pluss

 Introduction:

The purpose of this report is to explore my experience as a intern placed at the Northern Land Council as part of the Aurora Native Title Internship Program winter 2012 round. This report will give some valuable feedback about my six weeks work experience in the Northern Land Council (NLC).

It is hoped that this report would serve as a cardinal vehicle to the promotion of the internship program.

Aurora Native Title Internship Program
The Aurora Native Title Internship Program is part of a nation-wide project that places law, anthropology and other social science students and graduates at Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and other organisations involved in Indigenous affairs. As a postgraduate student in Anthropology, I was placed in Anthropology Branch of the Northern Land Council.

Length of the internship
As an international student on an exchange program for a year in Australia, the time frame during which I was available for the internship was constrained by the length of my visa, expiring by the end of June 2012. Although the winter round of Aurora internships usually starts in June, there is some flexibility around this and the Aurora placement team arranged an early internship for me in less than 2 weeks after my application on the 5th of March 2012. Thus, I began my internship on 19th March 2012. The internship was to last 6 weeks and as a result it came officially to an end on 27th April 2012. However, for reasons that I will explain subsequently, I extended my stay in the NLC until the beginning of June.

My expectations prior to the internship
The Northern Land Council is an independent statutory authority of the Commonwealth responsible for defending Aboriginal people rights and interests in their traditional land in the Top End of the Northern Territory. It is both a Land Council, under the ALRA (Aboriginal Land Rights Act) and a Native Title Representative Body. I had originally intended to join the NLC as a way to participate directly in the making of social justice. During my final year of a Bachelor in Anthropology I had developed a particular interest in Indigenous management of land. Therefore, I decided to get involved, during my journey in Australia, in an
independent body working on the protection of Aboriginal Land Rights.

In fact, internships are the most effective way for students to get practical exposure in the field they have chosen. It enables people intending to start a professional career to get familiarized with the way to live in the organizational environment, which is dramatically different from the educational environment. It gives the opportunity to young inexperienced people to become more confident, more knowledgeable, more responsible, and above all, more committed to its work in the practical field.

When I first arrived to the NLC, it was unclear to me exactly what my duties were to be. Although I had been very well informed by the Aurora team about the purpose of the Internship Program and the process of Native Title, not much indication had been given to me in advance about the actual tasks that the NLC was expecting me to undertake. In fact, it had been suggested to me that I was going to assist the anthro/research team of the organization in whatever native title related work they were working on. However, for most of the time, I was assisting in the area of in Aboriginal Land Rights.

Tasks undertaken under my placement in the NLC
During my six weeks internship in the NLC, I've been involved in a range of different tasks. From the first day, I was placed in the Land Interest Reference office (LIR).The Land Interest Reference Register is a service that offers access to all the anthropological resources of the NLC (Land Claims, Native Title Determination Applications, maps, anthropological reports, etc). I was first given the task to assist the LIR officer cataloguing documents into the LIR digitized register. Once I had learnt how to manipulate this computing system, I had the chance to assist anthropologists in the completion of Land Information Requests. Indeed, every time that a project (commercial, industrial, recreational or scientific) is planned on Aboriginal Land, advice is sought from the regional anthropologist from the NLC as to who the traditional owners are who need to be consulted. Land Information Requests are basically lists of traditional owners with rights and interests in a delimited geographical area. Releasing those documents requires a good understanding of the Aboriginal land tenure system as well as the ability to manipulate genealogies.

As this service was under-resourced during the period of my internship (lack of two staff members, and change of LIR officer) my assistance in the LIR office had been a great help. I was also given other minors tasks by different anthropologists of the branch to undertake (such as listening to recordings, printing maps, doing bibliographic and genealogical research...) however my main focus during the office hours in the NLC was filling and releasing Land Information Requests, specially to the Kakadu-West Arnhem Land Area Region.

I had also the incredible chance to participate in two field-trips to Gregory-Jutparra National Park. The first one was for the annual joint management meeting, between Parks and Wild Life Australia and Aboriginal Traditional Owners of the park, and the second one for a “Fire
Meeting” during which rangers and traditional owners burned country together for the first time. During those field trips I was assigned more practical tasks such as driving, cooking, taking pictures, shooting, setting up tents, and making lots of tea! As a young woman, my duty was specially to take care of the older ladies.

Benefits of the internship
In retrospect, I can say that I have benefited from the internship program in many different ways.

First of all, the internship has enabled me to understand better the practicalities of Aboriginal land rights. It has also given me the chance to learn from experts in the field of applied anthropology in the arena of Aboriginal land rights, specially John Laurence and Robert Graham.

Career-wise, the internship program undoubtedly enriched my curriculum vitae (CV), but I would undoubtedly say that the most rewarding aspect of my internship has been the human experience. My internship has been a great human experience in the sense that it has sharpened my capacity to work in team and learn from passionate and engaged people in an incredibly friendly work environment. Above all, it has been an overwhelming cross-cultural experience that as enriched me not only as a person but also as a future anthropologist. This internship as given me the opportunity to experience practical anthropological work for the first time in my life, and to discover the beauty of one of the oldest cultures in the world.

Conclusion:

My internship with the Northern Land Council has been without a doubt the greatest experience I've had during my journey in Australia. It has been a worthwhile learning experience that as allowed me develop a more comprehensive view of the bureaucratic process of the application of the ALRA. It has also help me gain a better understanding of the complexity of Aboriginal culture and social issues.

Some challenging tasks, such as releasing LIRs for important mining royalties distribution, have enhanced my self-confidence as well as my sense of responsibility.

I joined the NLC hoping to have the opportunity to go on a field-trip and see the work that anthropologists do on the ground with local Aboriginal communities. Now, I can say that my expectations were more than exceeded and that I have lived the experience of a lifetime. Two weeks of field-trip have influenced my deliberations on my future career as I now consider Aboriginal management of land, and more particularly Joint-Management in Natural Parks, as a future career option. Indeed, after my six week internship I have decided to make Aboriginal land tenure system and the process of Joint-Management the subject of my Master's final dissertation. I have been very kindly invited by the Anthropology Branch Manager, and by other staff members of the NLC to extend my stay in the NLC in order to use the LIR resources for my personal research. Overall, I have been a member of the NLC anthropology branch team for more than two months.

To conclude this report, I must say that I am extremely grateful for the way I have been accepted by both, staff members of the NLC in the Darwin office, and local Aboriginal Traditional Owners in Gregory-Jutparra National Park. This internship has been an unforgettable experience that has made me grow professionally and intellectually.

Please consider applying for the summer 2012/13 round. Applications can be submitted online from 6th August through 31st August 2012 via the website http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram

 

 

 

Emma Wical

Land councils and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs organisations are employers of anthropologists. With graduation from an anthropology degree in sight, I welcomed the services of the good folk at The Aurora Project, who set up my six week internship at the Northern Land Council (NLC) in Darwin. The Aurora Native Title Internship Program facilitates the placement of students and graduates of anthropology, law and some social sciences in Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and other Indigenous organisations and agencies working in policy development, land rights, social justice and human rights around Australia. While the core business of NTRBs is native title and heritage work, those within the Northern Territory are special cases because of additional territory-based land rights legislation – the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (ALRA). As a land council and an NTRB, the NLC has a role in representing Aboriginal people claiming and exercising rights to land under the Territory’s Aboriginal Land Rights Act and the federal Native Title Act. The fundamental function of the NLC is to consult with Aboriginal people who have interests in land in the Northern Territory’s Top End.

I arrived in Darwin in the last days of June during the middle of the dry season. Many anthropology staff members were in the field taking advantage of the renewed accessibility of many townships and outstations previously cut off by water during the wet. This made for a somewhat deserted office but that situation was tempered by an inbox containing swathes of anthropological reports for native title claims requiring proof-reading and editing. To this task, I devoted much of my first weeks at the land council. These documents - which I had heard much about at university but had never seen - gave me an insight into the ways in which legal process dictates the presentation and form of anthropological research in native title claims, and demonstrated what is required of anthropologists in the native title claim process.

While the initial desktop work I undertook in the Darwin office was native title work, I was able to attend a field trip to north east Arnhem Land which is Aboriginal land under ALRA. Before my internship at the NLC, I think I falsely conflated native title rights and land rights under ALRA as one homogenous group of land rights. The native title claims process I experienced from my desk was a useful precursor to going on the field trip – these two aspects of my internship allowed me to ascertain differences in the way the traditional land tenure and rights are recognised in the two types of European law. The rights of Aboriginal people to land and its management under these two different European laws are quite divergent, as is the criteria for ‘recognition’ of tenure and inclusion or exclusion of family groups and individuals as part of the traditional land-owning or native title rights-holding group. This also allowed me to better understand the role of the anthropologists in land councils. Being cognizant of how the effects of colonisation can be exacerbated by anthropology is extremely important, but I have at times experienced it as a confounding, counter-productive mindset in which anthropology is demonised. Land council anthropologists document Aboriginal knowledge and tenure of, and connection and rights to land in a way that is intelligible to legal, mining and other parties involved in claim processes and negotiations concerning the use of Aboriginal land. At the NLC, I worked with anthropologists who approached the tricky, political task of overcoming this gap (between Aboriginal understandings of land tenure and whitefella governance) with experienced respect, cultural sensitivity and acute awareness of the power relationships operating.

The field trip to north east Arnhem Land involved preparing for and attending a mining royalty distribution meeting. At this meeting, different clans and family groups, all of whom are traditional owners (TOs) of north east Arnhem Land, negotiated the distribution of royalties from mining occurring on their country. My tasks as an intern were to assist the anthropologist when getting instructions before the meeting from traditional owners who could not attend, taking notes during the meeting, and recording an attendance list of the TOs present at the meeting. Instructions given by traditional owners regarding royalty distributions under ALRA (as well as other negotiations concerning uses of Aboriginal land that were not the purpose of this meeting or field trip) are informed by authority to speak for country where a mining lease is imposed, which in turn is derived from tenure of land on the basis of descent. Hence, knowledge of the general tenets of kinship systems operating in Aboriginal Australia gained over the course of an anthropology degree was indispensable during this field trip. There was much walking, talking, sitting, map-shuffling, gesturing and story-telling during the meeting and its preparation. All occurred in a cross-cultural environment that involved confronting and negotiating language barriers. The importance of NLC translators, key informants, and regional office staff was clear to see.

A second field trip took me to the township of Ngukurr and the nearby outstation Minyeri. Getting to Ngukurr via road – up to 7 hours in the dry weather we travelled in – further exposed me to some of the practicalities of field trips: long drives, creek crossings, and 'roos. I accompanied a consultant anthropologist for eight days of community consultations, meetings, site surveys, mapping and genealogy updating. This field work occurred in the context of potential future developments in the St Vidgeon native title claim area and the Mara Land Trust. Again, an understanding of the difference between native title land and Aboriginal land was crucial, as was knowledge of Aboriginal land tenure and kinship systems (as the basis for decision-making). I joined meetings where the anthropologist was informed of the extent of clan boundaries and location of sites and Dreaming tracks by the senior people of Ngukurr and Minyeri. These meetings led to discussions between the anthropologist and smaller groups of, or individual, senior men during which they worked together to map the extent of each clan’s country. I assisted the anthropologist by taking notes during meetings and mapping sessions, driving people to and from meetings, and updating information on clan lists and genealogies following discussions with senior women of the Ngukurr community.
The NLC is a busy land council. There is so much work to do and many pressures on time and resources. I was, however, really well looked after at the NLC. The anthropologists I worked with in the office and went on field trips with are all excellent teachers and mentors. They taught me a lot and provided me with otherwise untenable opportunities for learning and experiencing land council anthropology. I realise that to travel to country where I experienced field work is not an option for everyone, not even all Aurora interns. Weeks later, I think about the red dirt and the pandanus and the barked trees and the feisty, kind old ladies and the arts centres, and am strangely sad for somewhere I spent so little time. Although a mere intern, perhaps I am yet another Balanda anthropologist who has fallen under the spell of the Top End!

My experience as an anthropology intern at NLC was one of constant learning about what land councils are and do, and the role of anthropology in them. A desire to understand the above will place any future interns in good stead for a land council internship. Applications are now open for the summer 2011/2010 internships. For more information, see www.auroraproject.com.au
 

NTSCORP

James Loneragen

The Aurora Native Title Internship Program provides a fantastic and unique opportunity for students and graduates in anthropology, some social sciences and law to gain insight and experience in Aboriginal native title, policy development, social justice, human rights and Indigenous affairs. The Aurora program places successful applicants in Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) as well as other organisations working these areas all around Australia.

I applied for the internship knowing very little about native title, other than some very basic details. I had completed my degree in Anthropology the previous year and upon return from a jaunt overseas I decided that I needed some real-world work experience if I was going be able to get a job that I actually wanted. After searching around for some volunteering opportunities I remembered I had heard of the Aurora Project, who provided internships for Anthropology students in native title. Being an Anthropology student I felt that this would be relevant not only to my degree but my interests in social justice.

After a relatively straightforward application process I was placed at NTSCORP in Redfern, the NTRB which deals with native title claims in NSW. What quickly became apparent was how much work is needed for a claim to have any chance of success. The onus is on the Aboriginal claimant groups to prove that they fit the criteria set out in the Native Title Act: that they have maintained both their culture and connection with the land since European settlement. As such, a lot of research goes into attempting to find proof of these criteria, especially establishing kinship genealogies. As I was placed in the research section of NTSCORP, I was able to participate in some of this research. I spent much of my time summarising and indexing numerous reports, books and newspaper articles, and indexing details from birth, marriage and death certificates. Some of the most fascinating parts of my work was reading through newspaper articles from the late 1800s and the journals of early explorers and settlers, which provide us with the first (admittedly Eurocentric) accounts of contact with Aboriginal people.

The most important thing about the internships is that you are providing vital assistance to these underfunded and often overstretched organisations. Extracting names and places from birth certificates, articles, reports and the like, while it may seem basic, is vital information for proceeding with claims, yet as I was told by one research assistant, it is often hard to find the time to get through it all. Interning through Aurora is definitely a great way to make a difference and also pick up some work experience!

And of course you need not only be placed in Sydney, as the Aurora program also offers opportunities to be placed all over the country if you wish to go further afield. If you are interested in taking up this fantastic opportunity please visit the Aurora Project’s website at www.auroraproject.com.au. Applications for the winter 2012 round will be open online via the website from 5th through 30th March 2012.
 

Louise Whitton, Honey Muir, Margherita Drago

An Internship with a Difference

There are few internship programs available to social science, anthropology and law students that enable them to gain practical insight into the Native Title process, and indigenous policy more generally. The Aurora Project offers high achieving students interested in social justice such an experience. We were placed with the New South Wales Native Title Service (NTSCORP) at Redfern for 5-6 weeks during the winter break. NTSCORP is a hard-working, but small and underfunded organisation that assists Indigenous claimants as they pursue the (momentous and time consuming) task of making a Native Title claim. We were placed with the NTSCORP research team. Among their many other tasks, the historians, anthropologists and land tenure officers are responsible for helping claimants establish in a form that is acceptable to the court, the land over which the claim is made, their unbroken connection to country, and unbroken observance of traditional customs as required by the Native Title Act 1993. During our time we were given a glimpse into how much hard work goes into achieving a native title claim and providing ongoing support to claimants.

You could be placed in any of the affiliated organisations and native service providers across Australia that regularly take Aurora interns. It offers those interested in seeing Australia an opportunity to do so. However the Aurora team are also accommodating and will ask for your preferences if you proceed to an interview. The type of work you do during the program depends upon the needs of the host organisation, but there is the opportunity for fieldwork. In any situation you will need to be aware of the challenges of cross-cultural communication and the ethical implications of conducting research in such an environment. Even during an primarily office based placement you are likely to come into contact with Indigenous people who work within the organisation, or who are seeking advice from the legal and research teams. During our time at NTSCORP, our duties largely consisted of reviewing previous research, entering genealogical data into the database, reviewing historical records, mapping areas for a potential future claim, administrative duties, writing articles for the company newsletter and policy research. Our placement also fell during NAIDOC, which meant that we were able to spend the day celebrating the achievement of First Australians with a morning cultural tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens, a barbeque lunch of kangaroo (or tofu for the vegetarians) and a relaxing basket weaving session to fill our afternoon. We could not have asked for a more welcoming and friendly group of staff. They made us comfortable and involved us in their work as much as possible.

The Aurora Project is valuable to students, not only as it allows you to develop your research skills, network and gain practical experience; but also because it offers you the chance to contribute to an organisation that does excellent and meaningful work to help alleviate the disadvantage of many Indigenous communities, ensuring that the prior rights of First Australians are given adequate legal recognition. It certainly isn’t a bad way to spend 5-6 weeks of a long summer break. Applications for the Aurora Project summer internship are open now, and we would urge interested students to apply.

We wish all applicants the best of luck,
 

Rosi Aryal

The Aurora Internship Program is a rare and rewarding opportunity for students and graduates to understand history and anthropology as they are practised in the native title system. The program allows you to foster your commitment to social justice while applying your training in social science to some of the most critical issues shaping Australia today.

Perhaps one of the cruellest ironies of the native title system is the immense amount of work required to ‘prove’ native title; compounded by the fact that the onus of this proof is on the claimants. As an Aurora intern, you can be placed at any one of the under‐resourced and under‐funded Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) or other Indigenous organisations around Australia working in policy, advocacy, land rights and human rights. The primary emphasis of your work will be defined by the various needs of your host organisation, and you will make the most out of your internship if you approach it with an open mind, minimum expectations, and a willingness to help wherever required.

I was placed with the friendly research team at NTSCORP in Redfern, where I read, summarised and digitalised numerous reports relating to one particular claim in the Sydney region. Reading this material opened my eyes to Sydney’s Aboriginal history, and to the often dramatic debates that are generated when this history is put under the microscopic lens of historical and genealogical research (for instance, in the differing interpretations of an individual’s or an entire family’s identity and cultural orientation).

Indeed, I found the historical perspective central to native title research to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the internship. In order to prove native title, claimants must in effect prove that they have been maintaining an “unbroken” connection to land during (and, in heavily settled areas, despite of) the colonial invasion and ongoing settlement of Australia. As relationships to country are intrinsically bound up with social relationships, the Sydney‐based claim on which I focussed involved detailed examination and cross‐examination of personal histories, familial cultural affiliations, and changes in kinship and marriage patterns over time. In this way, I saw how native title research combines classical anthropological research with a more critical awareness of the way in which legal and popular discourses of ‘tradition’ inform Aboriginal claims to land.

An Aurora Internship is a fantastic opportunity to understand and contribute to the native title process while decided whether a career in native title is for you. Applications for the summer 2010/11 program will be open from 9th August through 3rd September, so be sure to visit the Aurora website at www.auroraproject.com.au.  If you are a Law student, there are also exciting opportunities available in the legal stream. Good luck with your application!

QSNTS

Alicia Gambrill

For six weeks over the summer holidays of 2012/13 I had the opportunity to be placed as an intern at Queensland South Native Title Service in Brisbane city as part of an Aurora Native Title  Internship Program.  Queensland South Native Title Service (QSNTS) is a Native Title Representative Body (NTRB) which represents Aboriginal claim groups in central to southern Queensland. 

During my internship at QSNTS I learnt many things, such as how to use the state archives and state library for obtaining research materials.  I also had the opportunity to browse archived photographic materials at the state museum.  My research skills have greatly increased through my work at QSNTS and I have gained some practical skills which cannot be taught at university.

I originally applied to participate in the Internship Program as I was interested in a future career in native title anthropology after taking the native title anthropology course (ANTH2090) in second semester last year.  There are a few areas of anthropology that I am interested in and I thought that by undertaking an Aurora internship I would be able to determine whether or not a career in native title anthropology was a path I wanted to pursue. After my time at QSNTS as an Aurora intern, I can definitely see myself working in the field of native title in the future.

You hear some horror stories of students who were stuck filing for the duration of their internships and I am happy to say that this was definitely not the case for me.  I had expected to help out with filing and administration tasks to help out as NTRBs are typically very under-resourced.  I didn't really have any of these kinds of administration tasks but for those that I did, I could see the relevance to the research process for native title.  Majority of the tasks I was assigned were research based and included archival research. 

As well as learning a lot about native title anthropology and the process of native title, I also learnt a lot about myself, especially about myself as a researcher.  I also learnt about the intricacies of a multidisciplinary organisation and about how people with quite different professional backgrounds and understandings work together and learn from each other.  This was most obvious when I was given the opportunity to attend an informal meeting with members of a claim group.  I witnessed the interactions between the lawyer and the researcher and gained first hand knowledge of the different roles each plays in the native title process. 

I definitely cannot say that my internship progressed without challenges.  The main challenge I found was when I was I was reading some historical documents and learnt about one of the massacres of Aboriginal people that occurred in Western Queensland.  I was confronted with one of the worst cases of brutality against Aboriginal people which I had never really heard of before, despite living in Queensland for most of my life. I found this particularly hard to comprehend, despite my previous studies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relations, but fortunately everyone who I worked with at QSNTS were very supportive and provided me with suggestions for when I am next presented with such information.

I couldn't have chosen a better organisation to do my internship than the Aurora Project.  Everyone is very approachable and supportive, and provided great feedback and suggestions throughout my internship.  They were very helpful and considered the interests and needs of the interns in their pairing interns with organisations. I will definitely not hesitate in my recommendation to other students to participate in the Aurora Project.  It is a great opportunity.  You learn a lot about anthropology, native title and yourself, and gain practical skills you don't pick up at university.  Furthermore, the memories and experiences you make are priceless, and the contacts you make are invaluable. Applications are open trwice annually in March and August on-line via the website at http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram
 

Amy Humphries

The Aurora Project provides opportunities for internships for students of Anthropology, Law and the Social Sciences with an interest in Native Title. The internship program is primarily designed to provide support to Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRB). However interns can also gain valuable experiences in a niche field and further develop their understanding of Native Title, especially its importance to Indigenous groups in Australia.

As a student about to finish my Honours in Anthropology, an internship with a NTRB appealed to me as an opportunity to develop my understanding of Native Title and the role of Anthropology in this process. I applied for an internship with the Aurora Project during Semester two in 2008 and was placed with Queensland South Native Title Services (QSNTS) in Brisbane.

From the beginning of my internship my co-workers took the time to educate me on the challenges and particular requirements of the Native Title process, particularly the role of Anthropology in exploring the traditional aspects of contemporary Indigenous communities. Particular attention was paid to aspects of applied Anthropology in the Native Title process, helping me to take my theoretical knowledge of Anthropology into a real world sphere.

Working as an Aurora Project intern was a fantastic opportunity to learn about Native Title and explore my passion for Anthropology in a setting outside the structures of academia. The internship also led to my current employment with QSNTS where I have worked as a researcher since December 2008.

If your interested in exploring Native Title with The Aurora Project check out their website www.auroraproject.com.au

 

 

 

Krystle Fiebig

New Insights into Native Title Research

I applied for the Aurora Native Title Internship Program with little knowledge of the range of organisations or the possibilities available in native title to those starting out, but hoping to learn, to discover and to perhaps uncover a career direction. Looking back after an amazing six weeks, I can say that I have got more out of the process than I could have ever imagined!

I accepted a placement via the internship program at the Native Title Representative Body (NTRB), Queensland South Native Title Services (QSNTS) in Brisbane, a city I had never visited but was excited to see, and set off to try my hand at whatever it was they would want me to do. In following the advice given by the Aurora placements team to all interns, I arrived at the office with few preconceived ideas or expectations but excited to have the chance to gain some experience in a workplace setting and put to use some of the skills and knowledge I had built at University. After recently graduating with a Bachelor of Social Sciences with a major in Anthropology, I was still unsure where to go next and was looking forward to the opportunity at hand.

My time at QSNTS turned out to be extremely interesting and I was fortunate to be involved in a wide variety of tasks and entrusted to work on some significant and integral processes. I was able to get involved in and assist with duties relating to several current native title claims, and throughout those gain an understanding of the differing stages each claim goes through from registration, authorisation, collection of and reporting on connection material to the State, correspondence and meeting with applicants, and other various processes involved in reaching a determination.

I was able to experience the types of work that a Researcher in an NTRB undertakes and gain a real understanding of the importance of Anthropology in the complex native title process. My awareness was strengthened in relation to the specific details through which Aboriginal people must prove their rights and interests to land and a continuing connection with that land, in order to satisfy native title requirements, while working alongside researchers, lawyers and consultant anthropologists. During my placement I was responsible for renaming and transferring documents and reference material into the new data management system and cataloguing the reference library in the office. I was able to assist with drafting tables and collating oral testimonies for the connection report, create a genealogy of an apical ancestor using Family Tree Maker, and assist with drafting the Form 1 for one particular native title claim. I also was fortunate to have the opportunity to accompany the claim management team of another current claim, and to help organise and facilitate an Applicant meeting, information session and large Authorisation meeting. The chance to see firsthand the interactions and proceedings at these meetings have certainly enhanced my learning experience and I am grateful for that opportunity.

My time at QSNTS and the experience gained has strengthened my passion and desire to contribute to work that will benefit Aboriginal people, and I foresee a career in Native Title as a rewarding and exciting opportunity. The Aurora internship program has provided an excellent chance to get some hands-on experience and gain a real understanding of the roles and responsibilities involved in a workplace dealing with the important issues and complexities that encase native title. For anyone considering doing an internship through Aurora, I would certainly recommend it! If you are finished or nearing the end of your degree in Anthropology, other Social Science or Law, why not check out the next intake round and give it your best shot! Applications for the summer 2011/12 round are open now through 2 September on-line via their website at weww.auroraproject.com.au
 

Michelle Walters

When I first heard of an Aurora Internship what immediately caught my attention was the name Aurora and I was immediately intrigued by what this name might represent. In astronomical terms Aurora is related to a light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The two poles of the earth's magnetic atmosphere become illuminated when particular conditions are met.

Having now completed my six week internship at Queensland South Native Title Services (QSNTS) I can understand the correlation. There are many conditions that need to be met for a Native Title claim to be recognised under Commonwealth Law. The main one is that the Native Title claimants must prove continued connection to Country in order for the Claim to be successful. In order for this connection to be illuminated often many years of research and legal proceedings must occur.

During my six week stay at QSNTS I was very fortunate to be invited to attend the successful Jinibara Native Title Determination at Woodfordia in Queensland. This native title claim had been in the system for fourteen years and three of the original Indigenous claimants' were deceased prior to the Jinibara's peoples claim being determined. There were many tears of joy shared on the day, not only by the Jinibara people but also all the people who had been involved in this lengthy claim. I have come to understand the word 'determination' is very appropriate to the Native Title process!

I have used the acronym of the name AURORA to briefly describe my thoughts on what Aurora has meant to me as an anthropology intern.

A: Awareness
U: Undergraduate
R: Research
O: Open Minded
R: Responsibility
A: Agreement

Just as the Northern and Southern lights illuminate the night sky when the right conditions are met, an Aurora Internship offers anthropology students a brief glimpse into a new world, the world of Native Title. For an anthropology undergraduate, an Aurora placement can initially seem like a foreign experience filled with maps of places that look familiar, however, they are labeled with unfamiliar words and foreign boundaries. Places where the search for apical ancestors is mixed with the complexity of a colonial history.

Research into these complexities involves labour intensive transcripts from interviews with Indigenous claimants as well as in-depth research into historical and archival material. Much of this material supports the work of the Senior Historian and Senior Anthropologist's reports in relation to Indigenous peoples connection to Country.
An open mind is important in maintaining a professional and unbiased stance in relation to the often very sensitive and private information concerning people's ancestry and past history. Objectivity also allows for a more neutral position in relation to the research evidence and in not moving into the role of advocate.

Responsibility is paramount in working diligently and ethically in often what is self directed research and knowing when to speak up and when to ask for guidance from the more experienced staff. Responsibility involves taking initiative in relation to making the most of your internship by reading any relevant material concerning your placement i.e. the host organisation website and newsletters so that you can ask appropriate and relevant questions.

Agreements in behaviour and ethical standards are between three parties, The Aurora Project, the host organisation and the intern. Careful guidance is given from the Aurora Placements team in the form of a comprehensive manual regarding native title and through email and telephone support. The placement organisation offer their support by making you aware of their protocols and procedures and making you feel an important part of their team. For the intern, there are certain obligations to fulfil as part of an Aurora internship that include weekly emails regarding your placement and a published article upon completion. I would recommend you honour your word in completing your agreement with Aurora - its stands as a sign of your personal integrity and the trust you have been given in being selected for an internship.
An Aurora internship is a 'dance of the lights', it is a placement in a position where you are passing through. Tread lightly and go with the expectation that you will learn, you will contribute in assisting the Research team and you will be given a valuable opportunity of being given an insight into the world of native title.

Applications for the upcoming winter 2013 round of internships will be open on-line via the Aurora website from 4th through 28th March 2013 at http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram.
 

SNAICC

Luella Monson-Wilbraham

Activate your Arts Degree with a Aurora Project Internship

Arts Degree students are often questioned about where their degree will take them. If majoring in anthropology the ‘please explain’ requests only multiply. While never doubting the validity of anthropology I too was beginning to question where it could take me when I chanced upon an internship program on La Trobe’s careers website that called for budding anthropologists and others.

The Aurora Project’s Native Title Internship Program places law, anthropology and social science students and graduates at Native Title Representative Bodies, and other organisations concerned with Indigenous issues, around Australia during university breaks. The Program aims to assist under resourced and over worked organisations while at the same time introducing talented people to career opportunities in the Indigenous area.

After a competitive but straightforward application process I was placed at the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Care (SNAICC) in Melbourne. SNAICC is the national peak body representing the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. It is a not-for-profit membership based organisation governed by a national executive of representatives from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s organisations.
I spent six interesting weeks at SNAICC working as a Project Assistant on their ongoing Healing Project which is looking at promising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing practices and services that enhance wellbeing and go towards healing the continuing traumatic legacies of colonisation and disadvantage. I was involved in researching current literature on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing and healing practices, then scoping and documenting those healing practices and services, particularly in relation to children and families. I also took part in interviewing and visiting services and key leaders in the area of child and family welfare, and preparing material for publication.

Aurora interns are advised to enter their placement holding no expectations and a willingness to work hard. While this was great advice I still had hopes for a positive experience and a chance to contribute and learn. My hopes were more than met and my fear of sitting idle certainly did not materialise. My SNAICC supervisor was intent on providing new challenges and instruction on how to transfer my academic skills into the workplace. I was given the opportunity to network, attend seminars, take part in staff meetings and professional development, and improve my understanding of Indigenous issues.

The internship was also challenging and ultimately rewarding on a personal level. As a non-Indigenous person I found myself facing hard questions surrounding social equity and the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. I met amazing people who gave me a clearer understanding of the continuing disadvantage faced by Indigenous people and their resilience and determination to bring about change. I also realised that I can play a part, however small, because building new partnerships is everyone’s business.

This is no ordinary program. The Aurora Project is interested in working with Indigenous communities and organisations in order to build capacity and relationships. The Aurora team are also interested in your experience as an intern and are on hand to offer support and guidance throughout your internship. Applications for the winter round of the Aurora Internships Program close April 1, 2010 and summer round applications open in August 2010. Visit www.auroraproject.com.au or contact the Placements Team on (02) 94698100 for further information.

SANTS

Ben Christensen

My experience as an Aurora intern with South Australian Native Title Services (SANTS) was a very positive one. Firstly, I was placed at a great organisation and assigned to a great supervisor, who was a wealth of knowledge about native title and the various facets. From there I was assigned to read many books and documents pertaining to native title, in order to get me more familiar with the field that I was about to research in a more proactive way. After this reading, I was assigned to research the Yandruwandha Yawarrawarka claim group, who are located in the north-east corner of South Australia. In particular I researched the written history of their interactions with European encroachers in order to draw evidence of the Yandruwandha Yawarrawarka group’s continued association with the land, practice of traditional culture, and the individuals and families who have composed the Yandruwandha Yawarrawarka group over time. This research that I undertook was to be used as evidence in a real-life native title claim. This research would see me through to the end of my internship. After my internship at SANTS, I was offered a full-position as a professional officer, in lieu of a researcher who was leaving SANTS at the same time; a position that I accepted with relish.

Native title is a fascinating and rewarding field to work in and contribute to. Aurora is a great avenue for experiencing this, and if lucky, score a job afterwards. Applications for the upcoming summer 2012/13 round of internships are open now from 6 August through 31 August on-line via their website at www.auroraproject.com.au
 

Jake Cooper

During February and March of 2013, I was involved in a six-week Aurora placement at South Australian Native Title Services (SANTS). This placement was organised through the Aurora Native Title Internship Program, which facilitates placements in Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and other organisations working in Indigenous affairs on a national scale.

My placement was in the anthropology stream, and I was matched with a supervisor in the anthropology department, who was friendly and helpful – she showed me the ropes on the first day, and continued to be supportive throughout the placement. Ultimately I was to work closely with another person at SANTS, a lawyer, who is the case manager for a potential native title claim, currently still in its infancy.

The lawyer outlined that the potential native title claim relates to an area of land in South Australia over which no native title claim is made. The Aboriginal community who have traditional and current connection to the relevant area have expressed interest in making a claim for native title.

My task was to research historical and ethnographic documents in order to identify possible apical ancestors in the written record for the potential native title claim. This task makes up a portion of the research required to put together a Form 1, or the first step in a native title claim. The general idea is, to find information such as names, dates, places, practices, traditional laws, and connections to country within the written record, to support a native title claim. Identifying potential apical ancestors in the written record may
a) support the claims of claimants by linking them genealogically with those people that were living on country in pre settlement times and had contact with non-Aboriginal people which was recorded; and
b) provide new lines of investigation into potential claimant group members through the development of family trees.

I was given a space to work and an extensive amount of material to read. It was a little overwhelming at first, but as I settled into the task I found it interesting in terms of content, and challenging in terms of presenting the information. I ended up providing a document that had upwards of 150 name references. Initially I was only looking for names, but eventually I also gathered information concerning practices, and most importantly, genealogical information.

The purpose of this task was to provide the research that will serve as evidence for a native title claim. It was an honour to be involved in assisting what could become a positive determination for a group of people. I did think a number of times during my research, that there was a real and tangible possibility that the research that I was doing, that a particular name reference that I had found, could lead to an individual being included on the claim form and thus gaining native title rights. I think that was the most valuable part of my time at SANTS, knowing that I may be helping individuals and groups today, by looking into the documented past.

I also was able to read some field notes of an anthropologist who was writing in the 1930s. This was particularly exciting because I was able to read the handwritten (photocopied) notes of an anthropologist who had contributed so much to the knowledge that we have about Aboriginal people. It was interesting and exciting to go along with his field trip via the primary source. This material is not publically available and so I needed to be aware of where I took notes, and to what extent I spoke about the material contained within the notebooks to people outside SANTS.

Ultimately I produced two documents for SANTS during my six weeks, the first, a table of names and surrounding contexts for potential apical ancestors within the claim area. The second was a ‘hand over’ report, detailing what still needs to be done for this claim area in terms of research. This second task was difficult because I have never worked on a native title claim before and felt that I needed guidance on where to go next. However, because of the extensive amount of time that I had already spent on the research, as well as conversations and advice received from others at SANTS, I feel confident that I left the internship with the knowledge and ability to step into native title research in the future. My ‘hand over’ report received positive feedback and I hope there is the possibility of me returning to SANTS in some kind of paid capacity in the future, as the claim area I was working on becomes a greater focus for SANTS.

I am happy and satisfied with my placement at SANTS and would recommend any student who is interested in native title, Aboriginal affairs, social justice, and the research that backs them up, to apply for an Aurora Internship. To be able to see a bold line between your research and practical outcomes for individuals is particularly rewarding. Do it – its great experience and good fun!
Applications for Aurora internships are open in March and August annually on-line via the website at http://www.auroraproject.com.au/nativetitleinternshipprogram

YMAC

Lisa Accadia

Almost graduated and need some Direction? Internships are a great place to start!

As I neared the end of my Honours degree in anthropology I was still relatively unsure as to which direction to take next, that was of course until I heard about the Aurora Project from a fellow student.

The Aurora Project is an enterprise that aims to strengthen and support the work of Australian Indigenous organisations with a considerable focus on Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) and Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs). One of the ways it does this is through a short-term internship program. The Aurora Native Title Internship Program places students, or recent graduates, in the fields of anthropology, law, and some social sciences, within these often under resourced organisations where they provide both much needed support and gain valuable working experience. Although internships only last between 5-6 weeks, it is not uncommon for interns to also gain employment within their host organisation. With no PhD and no experience working as an anthropologist outside of the academy the internship proved a great way for me to gain practical working experience in my area of study.

I applied for the recent winter internship round under the anthropology stream and was fortunate enough to be placed at Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) based in Perth. YMAC is a large NTRB who specialise in anthropological and legal research to assist native title claims as well as providing services for heritage protection and land use agreements. Having had limited knowledge of what goes on in the native title process before starting, I found being at YMAC a very rewarding learning experience.

Some of the tasks I was asked to undertake included editing connection reports, archiving digital research material and transcribing anthropological fieldnotes. I was also fortunate enough to be sent up to Port Hedland for a week and partake in a heritage survey with one of the anthropologists. The experience allowed me to gain a firsthand understanding of how anthropologists carry out their research within the spheres of heritage protection and native title.

By gaining so much exposure to the various elements of the native title process and being able to speak openly with members of the organisation, I felt as though I had undertaken a six week intensive learning course on Indigenous affairs. The things I have learnt will be invaluable as I now move forward in my future career pathways. So if you are an anthropology, law, or other social science student with an interest in Indigenous affairs, native title, social justice and human rights, I highly recommend considering an Aurora internship for your next semester break. The Aurora website provides all the information you need to complete an application and is filled with some great background reading and other resources. Applications for the upcoming summer 2011/12 round are open now through 2 September on-line via their website.  The Aurora Project: http://www.auroraproject.com.au/